With San Diego Pride Festival approaching July 13-15, San Diego City College’s new LGBTQ student group, City Unity Club, is hopeful to join the parade and is eager to let the campus know of its presence. Before City

Unity Club, the previous LGBTQ student club, All Out At City, had been inactive for close to four years before a group of students noticed the lack of student involvement on campus during National Coming Out Day, which is on October 11th. After San Diego City College changed the campus policy stating that adjunct faculty can no longer be club advisors, the All Out At City student club began to die.

Ready to go with completed paperwork, assigned officers, and a plethora of names to choose from, a group of students set out to request the previous advisor to All Out At City, Professor Shane Haggard, as its campus advisor shortly after noticing the absence for a LGBTQ safe haven. Professor Haggard said he happily accepted the position and has enjoyed working with the new group who is so eager to support the City College LGBTQ community. The student involvement and hands on engagement has allowed Haggard the ability to focus on other things like raising awareness and mentoring. When asked what the major differences between the two groups, Haggard said “All Out At City focused more heavily on activism and changing policies which helped to push policy on all gender bathrooms on campus, where as City Unity Club is more focused on doing good things in the community, socializing and volunteer work.”

City Unity Club is only a month old but has a consistent eight club members who are working to increase its presence on campus in order to let students know that they are welcomed to join and open to everyone interested. The club’s goals are to increase attendance to their weekly meetings that occur every Tuesday at 4 p.m., possibly get involved as a mentor with the LGBTQ center in Hillcrest, and to recognize its one-year celebration for being an active club at City College in October.

Those interested can look forward to the group’s social media pages being created very soon and can show up to their meetings and upcoming events this fall. Club President, Danielle Beahm, City Unity will be present during Club Rush week in the fall for anyone on campus who is interested in joining the growing group. Only requirement for membership: be open and accepting to everyone. 

City College attempted to reach out to club president but has not responded.