Congratulations incoming UCSC Queer and Trans “QT’s”! The Lionel Cantú Queer Center welcomes the new incoming Frosh and Transfer students to the 2nd annual QTBIPOC Orientation. This yearly event is meant to support students who identify as Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and part of the LGBTQIA+ community in starting their time at UCSC. This event focuses on identifying and relieving the frustration of being ostracized from an enriching campus experience because of sexuality, race, finances, and disabilities (i.e. institutional bureaucracy). During the orientation, you’ll have the opportunity to learn and connect with campus resource centers, academic and financial advisors, interrogate campus services and make new friends. For accessibility needs or questions please contact queer@ucsc.edu or call us at (831) 459-2468

SIGN UP FOR THIS YEAR'S EVENT HERE

Mission

The mission for the QTBIPOC orientation & The Lionel Cantú Queer Resource Center is to empower students' rights to self-advocacy. This is a NO-shame/hand holding safe space. This is a space that validates students as a whole, not based on the intersecting systems of oppression meant to alienate QTBIPOC students from a well-rounded, stress-free, academic experience. This is a space to reject/unlearn white supremacy values in the education system, and reimagine academic spaces. This is a space where you don’t have to perform for others, code-switch, or mask for the parameters of western academia; instead, get the tools to find yourself and make your experience transcendental. This is your familia; this is your community, this is your chosen family.

Vision

Our vision is for the next generation for a worry-free college financial and social experience that QTBIPOC folx can be students. Not just to get you to graduation but to fall in love with learning. To make the college experience a healing, sacred environment, free of the strains of capitalism with a more empathetic approach that assures student success for all. It should always be student-led, and it should always have support from a Cantú QTBIPOC pro-staff. 

The purpose of this self-advocacy statement is to ensure that present and future QTBIPOC students can be set up to learn how to advocate for themselves and others. We must work together and share our triumphs and struggles to build collective power to mitigate the harm the university has inflicted on its QTBIPOC students. We wish to continue building out counter-spaces to eliminate how the universities make it difficult for QTBIPOC students to find belonging and feel supported in their campus community. These universities would not be here without us, even though they never intended for us to be here. Our existence in this space is resistance. As QTBIPOC students: We have a right to feel joy. We have a right to be visible on all campuses. We have a right to be heard.

Camila Alvarado

Pronouns: They/She

QTBIPOC Orientation Coordinator

My name is Camila (They/She), I am one of the programs and Advocacy Interns at the Cantú Queer center and one of the founders of the QTBIPOC Orientation. Our inspiration in starting this event came from the need of providing students a space where they could enjoy their time at UCSC without having to worry about the limitations imposed by institutional bureaucracy. In my four years at UCSC worrying only about my degrees and my social life appeared to be a privilege because I was always loaded with administratives barriers based on my immigration status, my financial status, my ethnicity, and my sexuality. In other terms, I have had to work harder than ever just to enjoy being a student. Along with my coworkers at the Cantú center and their similar experiences in this campus, our hope is to provide you with the tools to assure your success and make the role of a student one attached only to an enriching and stimulating academic and social experience. 

 Z Kayian

Pronouns: They/She

QTBIPOC Orientation Coordinator

Hey y’all! My name is Z, I use they/she pronouns and I am a Programs and Advocacy Intern at the Lionel Cantú Queer Center. We hope this Orientation will provide more support for new QTBIPOC UCSC students and create a space where students can bond and feel supported by their community. Often in a large institution, support can be hard to find and students, especially queer students of color, have to become their own advocate. As UCSC’s Queer Resource Center, we want to attempt to alleviate some of the institutional and beuracratic barriers by connecting students with UCSC staff, departments, resource centers, and other resources. As a transnational adoptee, I’ve been grateful for the ability to find community within the Cantú Queer Center and personally hope this Orientation will be a catalyst for other QTBIPOC students finding their community!

Alejandro Anguiano Carmona

Pronouns: He/Him/Él

QTBIPOC Orientation Coordinator

Hola, my name is Alejandro Anguiano; my pronouns are he/him/él, and I am a first-generation transfer student. I am one of the Programs and Advocacy Interns at the Lionel Cantú Queer Center. I have the honor of being one of the co-creators of the QT BIPOC Orientation. The QT BIPOC Orientation was born from the numerous systematic barriers I faced during my first year and a half at UCSC. Many students like myself worked hard to get here, but my whole experience at UCSC made me question my existence and abilities to be a successful student. I did not want to accept the negative narratives about students like me, and I decided to go against the system. My hope is that the QTBIPOC Orientation continues to grow not only here at UC Santa Cruz, but across the entire UC System. I hope this Orientation empowers students to know that they are not the minority, we are the majority, and our voices matter. Si se puede!