CAMBRIAN COLLEGE
College Opens New Pride Centre, Unveils New Pride Flag

Cambrian College is very proud to announce the official opening of the Cambrian Pride Centre. The Cambrian Pride Centre will be a resource centre and positive space for both students and staff. The centre features a special mural designed and painted by Matthew Lehtela, a graphic designer at Cambrian and an alumnus.

Cambrian College's new Pride Centre is officially opened by student Mars Petryna with assistance from: (left) Seija Korpela, Director of Cambrian's Glenn Crombie Centre for Counselling, Accessibility and Wellness, and (right) Alison De Luisa, Cambrian's Vice-President of Human Resources and Student Services. The Pride Centre will be a positive space for members of the campus community who identify as 2SLGBTQ+.
 

Cambrian held an official opening ceremony and open house, with Bradie Granger serving as Master of Ceremonies. Granger is the Chair of Cambrian's Schools of Justice and General Studies and identifies as gay and Two-Spirit.

"As someone who came out while in post-secondary many years ago, I never had a safe space to go or a place where I could meet people," explains Granger. "It was a very lonely journey. I wish there was a space like this when I was younger. I'm very proud to be a part of this journey and am extremely excited for our students to be able to have this space."

Last August, a task force was created at Cambrian to develop the Pride Centre. Led by Cambrian's Wellness Coordinator, Catherine Poulton, the task force included both students and employees. Based on feedback, three key themes emerged for the Pride Centre: Empower, Educate, Engage. Catherine also used feedback from the task force to oversee the layout and functionality of the Pride Centre.

The Pride Centre will empower 2SLGBTQ+ students and staff through such practices as active dialogue, promoting representation, and working to eliminate anti-2SLGBTQ+ behaviour on campus. The Pride Centre will educate the campus community that understanding and respect for sexual and gender diversity is the main tool to end discrimination. The Centre will also engage the campus community to foster a positive healthy environment where everyone feels valued.

"Coming from a small town down south with minimal 2SLGBTQ+ resources, I am so happy that future Cambrian students will have a space to express themselves and find like-minded people," adds Mars Petryna, who identifies as Trans Non-binary and bisexual. Mars graduated this year from Cambrian's Design and Visual Arts program.

As part of its Pride Month celebrations, Cambrian College has also raised its new one-of-a-kind Pride flag. The College has added to its progress pride flag the symbol of two feathers in recognition of Indigenous people who identify as Two-Spirit. Two-Spirit is the translation of the Anishinaabemowing term niizh manidoowag. Two-Spirit is seen as a way for Indigenous communities to reclaim lost traditional ways of viewing gender, sex, sexuality, and spirituality.

Cambrian's new progress pride flag is raised at the college's front entrance. The progress pride flag includes two feathers in recognition of Indigenous people who identify as Two-Spirit
 

While this is a relatively new term, it describes a very old tradition of gender fluidity. Having the spirits of two genders was considered a special gift and people with this gift often held highly respected positions within their communities.