SCC Pride pushes through pandemic impact

LINCOLN – Southeast Community College (SCC) Pride club continues to push through the pandemic’s negative impact on student organizations by regularly meeting in the Café Commons at 4 p.m. every Thursday.
Because of the small number of students coming to meetings, they often consist of planning events, playing games or simply chatting.
Director of Counseling, Kalika Jantzen, who stepped into the advisor role for SCC Pride, shared, “We keep it pretty laid back.”
During the month of October, LGBT History Month was celebrated in the gym which had fun activities and helpful resources for students.
A rainbow-curtained selfie station was created by the gym to promote the club as well as highlight the history of LGBTQ+ by including information on historical figures.
Jantzen says, “The goal is always to be a learning opportunity for anybody: staff, faculty or students. We wanted students to learn about LGBTQ history as part of history.”
SCC Pride was able to partner with OutNebraska, a statewide advocacy group for the LGBTQ+ community, who was invited to speak over Zoom on Friday, Oct. 28, about the legislative actions being taken in Nebraska.
Although run by SCC Counseling Assistance Program for Students (CAPS), LGBT Group Therapy was also offered this semester every Monday from 5-6:30 p.m. in room B25.
This therapy group was made for any students looking for a safe and confidential space for peer-to-peer support.
Even with the efforts to promote and educate people about LGTBQ+ pride, the club continues to struggle with having a solid group of students who consistently attend meetings.
Jantzen says, “We could reestablish pride with a small group of students, enough to then really get some great promotion ideas going and keep it going for the students who are coming into SCC in the following years.”
“I’m open to really any ideas to really reach our students to promote this,” Jantzen added.
As advisor of SCC Pride, Jantzen said her continual goal for the club is to “highlight and celebrate the aspect of us as human beings and the community at large.”
“I really want students to feel like they can learn, but also have some fun and make some connections,” Jantzen said.
In the near future, Jantzen hopes to see more students who can participate in club meetings to escape the rebound period most student organizations are similarly facing.
SCC Pride currently announces updates and events through SCC’s social media coordinators, newsletters and email.