Minutes 11/28/07

Attendance: Allan, Josie, Kaleb, Emily, Jon, Anthony, Liza, Lucas, Al, & Megan

Hope everyone enjoyed their short lived Thanksgiving break!

Here comes the last push to the end of the semester….

1) World A.I.D.S Day events

a. The A.I.D.S. Quilt

i. We will be displaying the A.I.D.S. quilt in the 65 5^th Ave building on the wall by the Registrar’s office for the entire week.

ii. We will have signage by the quilt explaining the history as well as a plug for our group.

iii. There will be a lock box that we will use to collect donations for Ashley’s organization “The A.I.D.S Museum”

b. “A.I.D.S. & Art”

i. The artwork of Nicole Margaretta will be shown in the Student Activity Space Lobby of the 55 W 13^th ST building during all of next week as well.

ii. We will be hosting an event on Wednesday where Nicole will be talking about her work from 7 – 8PM in the Student Activity Space.

iii. We’ll have $100 worth of food to purchase from Food Emporium that day so I’m gonna need some help with purchasing and set up prior to the event…

c. A.I.D.S. Ribbons

i. Hopefully we can muster to make a couple (at least 100)

ii. Allan will purchase some red ribbons and mini clips to make when we meet on Sunday.

2) The New School Free Press

a. On Monday, Dec 3^rd we will be meeting, along with Women of Color and other concerned students, about the publication of several New School Free Press articles specifically “Lo Mein, High Maintenance” and “Save the Urinals”

b. These said articles compare Asian Parson’s women as an untapped natural resource for the straight men at Lang, completely ignore the whole concept of gender-neutral facilities altogether, among many other ridiculous things.

c. We’ll be doing a strategizing meeting this Sunday at 5PM so as to formulate proper argumentation and logic so that we’re not completely unprepared for the actual meeting on Monday. (I’m gonna be bringing the ribbons with me to the meeting so that we can make the A.I.D.S. ribbons then. Killing two birds with one stone)

d. Harper will be circulating out more emails tomorrow so you won’t miss a beat.

3) Gender-Neutral Housing

a. Here’s the link to the document in case anyone wants to help collaborate on it.

b. There’s a lot of emails still needing to be sent out to various universities but I believe we’ll get it together if not by winter break, then at least by RA Winter Training (early January) when I will be able to get a chance to hand this in to Rob Lutomski directly.

4) Movie nights

a. Sorry guys, but because of the fact that we weren’t able to get a space during this last week and because there’s no way to host an event after Dec 7^th (no Student org is allowed to do so), we will be postponing movie nights till next semester.

At the next meeting we’ll recap on Monday’s meeting with the Free Press and also use that time to help set up for the AIDS & Art event later that evening.

Remember tomorrow is World AIDS Day!

Honor those we’ve lost and those who continue to fight!

Here’s to finding a cure so that AIDS can be history.

Allan R.

Secretary

O.P.E.N.

Events of interest

December 1^st

Queer CUNY VIII: The Twilight of Queerness?

Saturday, December 1^st, 2007

New York, NY

Hunter College, West Lobby

Complimentary Breakfast, Lunch and Reception

10am

Minutes - REDUX!

OPEN
Attendance: Allan, Harper, Jeffrey, Megan, Lucas, Anthony, Kaleb, Josie, Liz, Al, Peter, and Lauren

I) Updates
a. “Crossdress Cabaret” @ Sarah Lawrence
i. Lucas said it went by smoothly.
ii. Will take some elements of it and incorporate it into next semester’s Drag Ball
b. Morty Diamond
i. Harper said that Morty would be more than able to come to the school to do a “Trans 101” workshop.
ii. More than likely to occur next semester.
c. Panel Discussion
i. Topic TBA, but more than likely to discuss Body Image
ii. Being headed by Anthony
iii. Will happen early next semester
d. Movie Nights
i. Lucas, Kaleb, and Josie will announce the next Movie Committee meeting but have outlined some suggestions for each month.
ii. November – Either “Soldier’s Girl” or “Beautiful Boxer” with Pie as a treat.
iii. December – “Bear Cub” with Hot Chocolate and Teddy Bears as a treat
iv. January – “Short Bus”
v. February – “Star Booty,” “Paris is Burning,” or “Paris is still Burning”
e. World AIDS Day
i. We have received $600 from the SAFC to have an artist display and discuss her work.
ii. We will also have a 12 x 12 section of the AIDS quilt to have on display.
iii. This will take place during the week of December 3rd
II) Initiatives
a. Gender Neutral Housing
i. Allan will post the beginnings of a proposal to have Gender Neutral Housing option for possibly Fall ’08.
ii. Will be available only to returning students in William St.
iii. More than likely to be just one apartment to begin as a pilot program.
iv. Allan will email a link to the Google Docs proposal this weekend and will need help with the research – Any help will be GREATLY appreciated.
III) Next Meeting next Wednesday @ 5PM in the Lang Café

Huge thank you for Jeffrey Jacobs for stopping by and attending our meeting

Have a good weekend everyone!

Allan
Secretary
O.P.E.N.

It's Almost Halloween! Minutes 10/24/07!

Minutes 10/24/07

Lang Cafeteria, then changed to Lang Basement

5PM

Attendance: Allan, Anthony, Al, Lucas, Harper, Josie, Kaleb, Megan, and Peter

Website: www.opennewschool.blogspot.com

First of all, we’d like to thank everyone who came to the screening of “But, I’m A Cheerleader.” About 30 people came and lots of people were happy walking away with free vibrators from Babeland!

Items Discussed

1) Recent Incident in the First Year Workshop

a. The first year workshop is a class requirement for first time incoming freshmen and involves presentations done by the professional staff at the New School.

b. One staff member had slanderous, homophobic remarks made about him in written, anonymous evaluations from various freshmen in the classes.

c. Student Rights and Responsibilities has gotten involved and Bertha Peralta, the First Year Advisor are doing their best to track the source of these remarks down.

d. People are always asking us why there is a GLBTQQ incident on campus if we’re such a liberal university. This is a prime example of why we need to continue to execute amazing events and programs to educate the New School community, because as much as we’d like to think that people are ok with the GLBTQQ community, there are some people who aren’t.

2) Movie screening for next month

a. We’re going to go for Thursday, Nov 15^th for our next movie screening.

b. At this meeting, the movie titles that were brought up include “Beautiful Boxer,” “Mysterious Skin,” and “Torchlight Trilogy.”

c. If anyone has any movie suggestions for next month email Lucas Brooks (brooL067@newschool.edu)

d. Remember, we’d want to have a serious theme this time around.

e. A movie will be decided at next week’s meeting….wait a second. It’s HALLOWEEN! Hmm, wait for next meeting’s time and date coming soon.

Items needing to be done

1) Still need to work on securing a space to hold meetings officially instead of just in the Lang Cafeteria

2) Need ideas to do a Trans focused event sometime soon.

3) Allan is in talks with the Housing office about working on gender-neutral housing. There is talk about a 600 person dorm in East Village so we might want to come up with a proposal to guarantee that this is a part of the University’s initiative to be progressive and to accommodate every matriculated student.

Events of interest

1) Next Friday, November 2^nd, Lucas will be performing at Sarah Lawrence’s “Cross Dress Cabaret.” Email him if you would like to attend or would like more information about the event.

2) Thursday, November 8th @ 7PM – Free
Reading: Eve Ensler (writer of the Vagina Monologues) & Alix Olson "Word Warriors"
"Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution" is a collection of oral poetry and lithely muscled voices. Its contributors are women who think and act decisively to create their distinctive 21st century realities. The combination of the slam movement and bold underground feminism has created a unique pool of women who verbally challenge society on all fronts. Come hear them! Contributors include: Alix Olson, Patty Smith, Eileen Myles, Sarah Jones, Lynn Breedlove, and Suheir Hammad.

a. We may be going as a group to see this so we’ll keep posting more information about meeting up as the event comes closer.

Events for next semester

1) “Vagina Monologues”

a. Lucas and Richenda (Moxie) are arranging with several others fundraising for the Vagina Monologues in February.

2) “I’m a Survivor” Month – March

a. Lucas mentioned that Charnell Covert (Women of Color) wants to host a domestic violence series of events in March. Will be a great opportunity to talk about this taboo topic in the GLBTQQ community.

3) “Bear”

a. Lucas also mentioned that LJ (The Lang Theater Collective) is going to be act out the play “Bear” which follows the tragic story of two young gay boys in Catholic School.

Overview of NCOD and prep for Movie Screening - Minutes

O.P.E.N. Minutes 10/17/07

4PM

1. “But I’m A Cheerleader”
1. Going on tomorrow Oct 18^th from 6:30 – 7:30 PM in the Student Activities Space (Ground floor of the 55 W 13^th St Building)
2. Allan, Josie, and Megan will be in charge of picking up the cupcakes from Billy’s – order of 60 to be exact.
3. Anthony and Harper will be in charge of getting snacks
4. We have 10 silver bullet vibrators from Babeland (5 donated, 5 purchased)
5. We’re all going to meet at 6PM in the Student Activities Space to begin setting up.
2. De-brief of events from last week
1. National Coming Out Day

i. The O.P.E.N. Chair – Courtyard

1. What went well

a. We ran out of cookies

b. The people who did stand up, were great

2. What didn’t go so well

a. Many side comments were made

b. Could’ve been presented better

3. What to take away from it

a. Better Presentation

b. Always having at least two members present at any event we host

ii. Coming Out Career Panel

1. What went well

a. The Panel was AMAZING

b. Made a lot of good contacts

c. We were interviewed by the New School Free Press!

2. What didn’t go so well

a. Poor attendance because of the rain (we think)

3. What to take away from it

a. Knowing that weather plays a huge role in attendance

iii. ENDA Phonebank

1. What went well

a. Great overall turnout

b. Managed to get about 195 people to contact their respective congressmen to fight for ENDA

2. What didn’t go so well

a. Poor attendance from the New School

b. ENDA more than likely to pass without the trans-inclusive aspect.

3. What to take away from it

a. More publicity

2. Primary Party

1. What went well

a. 30 – 40 people registered to vote

2. What didn’t go so well

a. Event not advertised well, so poor turnout

b. Not enough student org representation

3. What to take away from it

a. Work on presenting our group better

b. Be a part of events that we know are going to be worth going to.

c. Working on a concise, quick Fact Sheet of all of the candidates if we were to do this again.

3. Nature of events
1. It was discussed that we need to be able to reach out to the LGBTQQ community more by having great events that allow people to be comfortable in their own skin.
2. Many great points were made that aren’t only concerns of our group, but mostly of student organizations in general.
3. For future events, we need to reach out to marginalized sub sectors of the LGBTQQ community such as the trans community and minorities.

Things to talk about next week

1) Movie Screening in November

2) World AIDS Day in December

3) Having a trans focused event by the end of the semester?

More NCOD and ENDA and Minutes - 10/10/07

Attendance: Allan, Megan, Lucas, Josie, Kaleb, Natalie, Peter, David, Natalia, Carlie, and Al.

First and foremost, it was Harper’s birthday today so Happy Birthday from all of us! ! !

Secondly, check out www.opennewschool.blogspot.com where we post all of our event information and weekly minutes so you can stay in the know!

Items Discussed

1. Primary Party – Wednesday Oct 10^th, 9PM -- 65 5^th Ave Cafeteria
1. OSDA hosted an information session for presidential candidates that discussed their stances on various issues.
2. Anthony will talk about how it went at next week’s meeting.
2. National Coming Out Day
1. O.P.E.N. Mic – Thursday Oct 11^th, 11:40 PM - Noon – Lang Courtyard

i. We won’t have a microphone to use in the Courtyard.

ii. We will still do our little “Coming Out” shout outs

1. Meet at 11:30 in the Courtyard to begin setting up.

2. Kaleb and Josie will be in charge of making a sign for a chair where we’d stand out and come out officially to the New School community as well as managing to bring in a door to symbolize coming out.

3. Allan will buy some rainbow cookies to give out to people who do stand up on the chair and “come out.”

4. Everyone will bring Rainbow paraphernalia (wristbands, boas, t-shirts, etc) to make this event more festive.

2. “Out at Work Career Panel” – Thursday Oct 11^th, 6PM – 7:30PM -- Wolff Conference Room, 65^th 5^th Ave 2^nd Floor.

i. Plain and simple, come to the event! Tell your friends!

ii. Snacks will be served

iii. Lucas and Allan will be tabling outside prior to the beginning.

3. ENDA Phonebank – Thursday Oct 11^th, 6PM – 9PM – The National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce, 80 Maiden Lane, St. 1504

i. Check out hopstop.com for directions or contact Harper (310) 639 0033

3. Budget Proposal for “But, I’m A Cheerleader”
1. Once we hear back from SAFC, we can determine whether we’ll have a budget to purchase cupcakes and/or vibrators to give away.

Pass on tomorrow’s event information to friends and other students! It’s crucial that we have strong student presence at these events. We appreciate all of your efforts in doing so.

Hope to see you all tomorrow! And if not, have a wonderful NCOD!

In solidarity,

Allan

Secretary

O.P.E.N.

NCOD, ENDA, and the Minutes 10/03/07

OPEN Minutes 09/03/07

Attendance: Allan, Lucas, Harper, Kaleb, Josie, Liza, Anthony, Peter, Elizabeth, and Julia.

1. “Out at Work” Career Panel

a. Thursday Oct 11^th 2007 from 6 – 7:30 PM in the Wolff Conference Room, second floor of the 65 5^th Ave building.

b. We will be having a table at this event so we’ll have sign up sheets for people to have their emails for the mailing list.

c. The Panel will be comprised of representatives from the LGBTQ center, G.L.A.A.D, and other “out” professionals.

2. “But I’m A Cheerleader”

a. Thursday Oct 18^th 2007 from 6:30 – 8:30PM in the Student Activity Space, the ground floor of the 55 West 13^th building.

b. Screening of the movie “But I’m A Cheerleader” as well as little ice breakers, food, and possibly free vibrators from Babeland (still up in the air).

3. “Tranny Fags”

a. We are shooting to do this event during late October/ Mid November.

b. We will be co-sponsoring this event with Moxie, the feminist organization on campus.

4. ENDA (Employee Non-Discrimination Act)

a. In light of recent events of the ENDA bill potentially being passed without being gender identity inclusive is a slap to the face to the LGBTQQ community.

b. Harper works for the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce and assisting a phonebank on National Coming Out Day, Oct 11^th 2007 from 6 – 9PM.

c. If you would like more information, contact Harper Keenan (hbkeenan@gmail.com)

d. We realize that this is in conflict with the Out at Work Career Panel so whichever event you feel is more important to you, just attend/help out at either event. There’s also the option of going to the phone bank after the Career Panel discussion.

5. World AIDS Day

a. Allan is coordinating an art gallery event with Ashley Grosso.

b. Anthony and Paul will continue to talk about focusing on a “Sex Positive” Workshop for that week.

6. CUNY Queer Conference

a. Speaking of World AIDS Day, the CUNY school system is hosting a Queer Conference on Saturday Dec, 1^st 2007. We are invited to the day long workshop if we so choose to attend.

b. Harper also mentioned that the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce is hosting a day long organizing skills day long workshop as well. Again, whichever event you feel is more pertinent to your particular interests should be your preference for attending either event.

7. Primary Party

a. The OSDA is coordinating an information session of the candidates for the 2008 election and wants us to have a booth set up to discuss the GLBTQQ stances of all of the candidates in the running for presidency.

b. The event is happening next Wednesday, October 10th 2007 in the 65 5th Avenue Cafeteria from 7-9 pm.

c. Allan and Anthony will help to represent OPEN for this event, and anyone else who’s interested. Let us know!

8. Movie Committee

a. After extensive discussions for having a monthly movie night for the year, we decided it’d make sense to have a committee. So far, it is comprised of Lucas, Josie, and Kaleb although if anyone else would like to pitch ideas or help coordinating the events, you’re more than welcome to help.

b. Some movie ideas included showing “The Bubble,” “Mysterious Skin.” “Time to Leave,” “Baby Cub,” “Queens (Reinas),” and many more.

Other things

1. Open Mic in the courtyard – National Coming Out Day
1. Allan has been in contact with Guinevere Molina, the head go to person from the OSDA about trying to allow us to have a mic and speaker in the Lang Courtyard during NCOD.
2. If it is the case, Ivan Raykoff, the professor who’s teaching a Queer Studies class, wants to have the student’s work presented during the potential event (thanks Josie!)
3. Once we get the thumbs up from Guinevere we can begin to coordinate setting up for the day.

Announcements

1. First Friday Dance @ Columbia University!
1. Columbia’s Queer Alliance is throwing a LGBTQQ party this Friday from 10PM – 3AM.
2. More information at this site: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/quam/
2. Crossdress Cabaret @ Sarah Lawrence featuring our group’s own VENDETTA
1. Happening on Friday, November 2^nd.
2. Sarah Lawrence’s own Amateur Drag Show. More information TBA or email Lucas Brooks.

The Out At Work Panel Discussion!

The Office of Career Development, OSDA, Student Housing, Intercultural Support and O.P.E.N. proudly announce:

Coming Out Day Career Panel
Employers speak about lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender advocacy and issues in the workplace!!

Thursday, Oct. 11th
6pm-7:30pm
65 Fifth Avenue, 2nd Floor
Wolff Conference Room

Panelist include representatives from:
The LGBT Community Center
Out Professionals (the Nation's largest LGBT networking organization)
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (G.L.A.A.D.)
and more....

Refreshments will be served! For more information, please contact The Office of Career Development at 212-229-1324.