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Signature Events and Programs

Every year, the LGBTQ Pride Center hosts a series of annual events that we like to call our Signature Events. Read below to learn more!

Pride Symposium

The Pride Symposium is a multi-day community-building experience and campus welcome opportunity designed to provide incoming students with information about the LGBTQ Pride Center, annual events and ways to get involved. Students will learn about LGBTQ+ student organizations on campus, opportunities to volunteer through the Pride Center, and LGBTQ+ resources in the local community. Incoming students will get a chance to connect with each other and hear from returning students about what it’s like to be LGBTQ+ at NC State. For 2026, Pride Symposium will be offered as “Pride Center Preview,” a 1-day program.

LGBTQ+ History Month

LGBTQ+ History Month is an annual series of events held each October that are designed to engage students, faculty and staff in learning about LGBTQ history. Be it a lecture, workshop, a film viewing and discussion, or a hands-on event, the Pride Center seeks to create a space for students, faculty and staff to learn about identity, history, community challenges, and strategies for creating change.

Our Futures

Our Futures is an ongoing dialogue between NC State Students and LGBTQ+ community members living and working in the Triangle. Guest speakers join the Pride Center to discuss their identities, passions, and interests around a given theme. Participants will have the opportunity to converse with the speakers as we co-create what our futures in the LGBTQ+ community look like.

Queer Quorum

Queer Quorum opens up the Pride Center to a variety of intersectional, student picked discussion topics. The discussion series features student dialogue facilitators, who choose the month’s Queer Quorum topic and lead participants thought-provoking conversation.

Trans Awareness Month

The Pride Center hosts Trans Awareness Month in November in order to bring attention to the experiences of the transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming communities. This events include opportunities to learn and build community, centering around the Pride Center’s annual observance of Transgender Day of Remembrance on or around November 20th.

Well With Pride

Join the Pride Center and Campus Health as we center wellness in all its forms and celebrate LGBTQ Health Awareness Week! Events include a health fair, clothing swap, and other additions each year.

Lavender Celebration of Graduates

Lavender Celebration of Graduates is an annual event intended to bring the entire LGBTQ+ community together to celebrate the success of our students. Any student can participate in the Lavender Celebration of Graduates; students don’t need to have been involved in any LGBTQ+ student organizations or have engaged with the Pride Center prior to graduation. We invite all graduates to participate and be recognized.

History of Lavender Graduation
Lavender Graduation is an annual celebration conducted on numerous campuses to honor lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and ally students and to acknowledge their achievements and contributions to the university. The Lavender Graduation was created by Dr. Ronni Sanlo at the University of Michigan in 1995. The annual celebration was created to recognize LGBT students and acknowledge their achievements and contributions to the university.