Campus student group Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgendered of the University of Toronto (LGBTOUT) held a party last Thursday to launch its new award for students actively working in queer communities. The event, called PoMo, raised funds to finance the scholarship.
“We’ve committed to raising $20,000 over two years to establish the new awards,” says Mark Riczu, the former LGBTOUT co-ordinator and U of T alumnus who is spearheading the campaign. “Thanks to a matching grants program from the Ontario Student Opportunities Trust Fund (OSOTF), that $20,000 will become $40,000 – enough to generate two annual scholarships in perpetuity.”
All full-time undergraduates in direct entry programs on all three campuses are eligible for the $1000 award. Administered by the Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, the criteria will be primarily based on demonstrated commitment to making changes in the LGBTQ community through volunteering, leadership, or activist and anti-oppression work.
“We want to downplay the academic element of it,” says Riczu, “which is why we’re calling it an award rather than a scholarship. We wanted to recognize the fact that the activism and community work many young people do is often very time-consuming, and can take away from schoolwork. But we do also stress a commitment to academic achievement, which can be broadly interpreted.”
“There’s a real lack of recognition in the university for the unique academic, emotional, and financial challenges faced by queer students, as well as for the outstanding community work and anti-oppression activism that queer students do- often struggling with great difficulty to balance such activism with their schoolwork,” said another former LGBTOUT coordinator, Anthony Collins.
The award campaign began in the summer, and the first successful fundraiser was an engineering barbeque two weeks ago. PoMo is a new dance night that the organizers hope will become a regular event, like the Vazaleen, Juicy, and Grapefruit parties.
The name PoMo has several meanings. “There’s the postmodern aspect,” says Riczu, “but it could be a riff on the ‘Homohop.’ You know, the ‘Pomohop.’ And also, it’s a reference to a ‘po’ ‘mo’, or a poor homosexual, because it’s a fundraiser for a student award.”
Riczu hopes that the first awards will be given out in 2006. “We’re counting on the University community, the queer community, and our many allies to support this campaign. People deserve to be recognized for their efforts and achievements and we know how much difference these scholarships could make in the lives of students.”
