Fairmont State LGBTQ student group Falcons with Pride soars with inclusivity

Oct. 23—FAIRMONT — As dusk sweeps across Fairmont State University's campus every year on Oct. 11, members of one student group huddle around the school's Victory Bell, cans of paint in hand.

Each year, Oct. 11 commemorates National Coming Out Day. And, each year, the LGBTQ student group Falcons with Pride paints the bell rainbow colors to tell fellow students they are safe and welcome on campus — participating in an artistic tradition among the school's clubs.

Coming to Fairmont State from West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, Quinn Arzt is a junior studying architecture, and has served as president of Falcons with Pride since fall 2022.

Falcons with Pride was founded to address homophobia and provide LGBTQ student support on campus, she said. But it has also become a way for LGBTQ students to mingle and make friends.

Arzt joined the group when she arrived on campus three years ago, as Falcons with Pride and other student organizations were still reeling from the toll of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former leaders had graduated, which reduced the group's institutional memory and student participation.

Arzt described her time with the organization as a "rebuilding" process, recovering student turnout and reviving programming that some current members never had the chance to partake in when they arrived on campus.

Falcons with Pride offers educational programming and occasional events, but Arzt described the group as more "passive" in style. It gives LGBTQ students a resource to reach out to when they need support, and a network of peers that can become lifelong friends.

While the group has faced disapproving comments from others in the past, Arzt said Fairmont State's campus is becoming more and more welcoming.

"The past three years have been pretty great," she said. "We've had a lot of new people join."

Arzt has anecdotally heard of previous student leaders in the group facing disapproval from school administrators, but that current leadership at Fairmont State has proven supportive of its mission.

Recently, the university's Office of Student Activities created a category for student organizations that are "affinity groups," pairing them with an advisor who oversees the student group division.

"It's actually really amazing," Arzt said.

For many West Virginians, college is the first time they have the opportunity to join an LGBTQ affinity group and attend events dedicated to the LGBTQ community.

"A lot of people are coming from areas that didn't have LGBTQ clubs, only the lucky ones did," she said. "We're trying to put those in for people who don't have that support group to fall back on."

A lot of the group's programming aims to help LGBTQ students know what resources are available to them.

"We try to be visible enough that people feel safe talking to us," Arzt said.

Building an environment that is inclusive of all LGBTQ community members, even those who do not yet openly identify as such, takes thoughtful consideration.

The group rarely takes photographs at events and, if it does, makes sure everyone in the picture consents to having their photo taken. The group also keeps group-wide emails private, so their mailing list is only accessible to the group's direct leadership.

Through the club, Arzt said she has learned things about the LGBTQ community, too. Educational resources that the club provides made her more aware of issues affecting the transgender community, and made her a better partner to her current girlfriend, who is trans.

Falcons with Pride has also become involved with LGBTQ organizations beyond campus, such as PFLAG Fairmont.

The student group helped PFLAG host Fairmont Pride this past June, and will host a color run 5K to raise funds for the community organization in the spring.

"Falcons with Pride is a great, energetic group," said PFLAG Chapter President Joby Chadwell. "We're hoping to do more collaborations with them, and help guide the next generation into public service."

Learning how to support the local LGBTQ community is a challenge Falcons with Pride members are eager to embrace, supporting fellow students exploring their own identities.

When Arzt thinks of her hopes for Falcons with Pride's future, she imagines a campus where LGBTQ freshmen feel confident, safe and supported by their peers.

In particular, Arzt noted that incoming freshmen often worry about their housing assignment in their first year, dreading the possibility of living with a roommate with a different gender identity or broadly anti-LGBTQ views.

"The fact that they have to worry about that, it's just so sad to me," Arzt said. "That would be my wish — that they feel safest in their own room."

Arzt said that publicly representing the LGBTQ community on campus has made her a "little bit of a target," and that she has personally dealt with hateful comments from other students on occasion.

But that does not detract from the value she finds in Falcons with Pride, and that she hopes to share with her student body at large.

"I'm willing to be there for someone who isn't out, just so they can see that it's safe," she said. "A lot of these people come from places where it's not safe."

And, with more and more students joining the club, Arzt is happy with what Falcons with Pride has brought to her school community.

"I'm confident that we've made good progress," she said.

Reach Jack Walker by email at jwalker@timeswv.com.