The Office of Gender, Sexuality, and Attraction Initiatives is currently hosting a new monthly event series called Exploring Gender, which aims to provide students and community members with a space to talk freely about gender-related topics.
Every month from September to November, GSAI will host three distinct gatherings: Manhood, Siblinghood, and Womanhood, all held in the Multicultural Resource Commons lounge in Wilder Hall. During these gatherings, GSAI opens up a conversation in which the fluidity of gender is wholeheartedly expressed and explored. Exploring Gender challenges the notion that gender requires a person to be a certain way, and instead offers that gender is a subjective process, defined only by oneself.
Kimberly S. Springer, the director of the MRC, spoke about the conversations in which the series seeks to engage.
“I think we have these different silos or pockets of people who have conversations … but we never really think about, ‘How are we socialized to gender?’ and what that may mean for different folks depending on their other intersecting identities,” Springer said. “How are we going to have a conversation about how my culture may impact how I view gender, [how] my religion may impact gender, my expression, outward expression, gender expression? How does that impact how I do gender?”
These sessions are not limited to these questions; they prove to be a safe space for anyone in need. All types of conversation are encouraged, whether they be about a pertinent pop culture event or a personal story — it doesn’t matter so long as those who come to the sessions are learning from one another. Outside of these gatherings being places where one can learn about gender in given contexts, they are also great places to meet fellow students and staff and build relationships with those in the Oberlin community.
Director of Cultural Engagement Cesar Quezada, who led the Sept. 3 Manhood gathering, said that the first event in the series went well despite low attendance.
“There were some issues with advertising for the event and stuff like that, but the conversations that we had, I think, were great,” Quezada said. “We ended up having some staff members that also showed up to support the conversations and to support the students that were there.”
GSAI is one of five offices within the Center for Intercultural Engagement. GSAI serves to provide the Oberlin community with educational, social, and cultural events that cater to pertinent issues on campus or elsewhere in the world.
Springer explained the mission of GSAI and CIE.
“GSAI is here to really talk about, ‘What does it mean to explore different facets of your gender?’” Springer said. “CIE as a whole is thinking about, ‘How do we recognize and celebrate different aspects of our identity?’ but also [educating] people on what are all the things that we possibly could share in our human experiences.”
Despite only being founded in the spring of 2025, GSAI has made a fundamental change to the College in that the program serves to make counseling and educational events more accessible. They have offered numerous cultural outreach events and opportunities for students, as well as staff, to make campus a welcoming place, where everything is readily available to those in need, but also to those who might not know they are in need.
GSAI also oversees events like Women’s History Month and the Trans Resource Fair. The latter is returning this fall, bringing in TransOhio, Colors+ Counseling, Bodywork by Silvija, Equality Ohio, LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, and The Ohio Center for Sex Education at Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio. These programs serve to provide helpful resources for queer students and for those who are wanting access to hormone replacement therapy or to STI and STD testing, but also to anyone in general.
NiK Peavy, the director of GSAI and leader of the Sept. 10 Siblinghood gathering, voiced that GSAI has a lot of opportunities for growth as a new addition to the Oberlin community.
“[We want GSAI to] become what our community and students are really looking for and need,” Peavy said.
Calling on students to take advantage of the resources they are making available, Springer is eager for more engagement from Oberlin students.
“I just hope [that] folks come out for our events and come to the lounge and hang out with students,’” Springer said. “I would love to see [more] students come by.”
