Connector Editor

When Pride Alliance President Kendra Mahoney joined the organization as a first-year student, she dedicated herself to “becoming a better ‘ALLY,’” someone who supports and advocates for the LGBTQ community.

“I always thought it was weird that LGBTs didn’t have the same rights as those who weren’t,” said Mahoney.

Pride Alliance is UMass Lowell’s student organization targeted towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and other students who do not identify themselves as heterosexual.

Led by a group of student peers, the alliance has two main purposes: provide a community for LGBTQ students on campus by giving these students a place to interact and talk about issues, and educate the campus at large about the LGBTQ community.

Pride Alliance will co-sponsor the event “Phallacies: A Masculine Performance” by “a UMass Amherst student group that engages in conversation and action to support healthy masculinities” on April 7 in O’Leary 222.

Additionally, the alliance will sponsor the Day of Silence across campus on April 11. By taking a vow of silence for an entire day, students aim to increase awareness of many LGBTQ individuals who are bullied into being uncomfortable about whom they are and feel the need to remain silent.

Mahoney, a senior and political science major, says the club aims to create a “safe space” for LGBTQ students, and that confidentiality is one of the alliance’s core values and responsibilities to its members.

As president of the organization, Mahoney oversees the club to “ensure that everything is running smoothly” and has become the figurehead of the group.

Mahoney says being president is “a lot of responsibility to make sure everyone feels safe,” but feels that she educates herself properly to assure that she can help anyone who needs someone to talk to.

Through the classes Mahoney has taken as a political science major, she has been able to understand how and why certain laws are made, and the types of methods citizens have taken to change them. Mahoney now uses her comprehension of the judicial system to explain to members their options in changing something they may see as unfair.

She said Pride Alliance looks forward to collaborating with the likes of student groups such as the Navigators Club, Students of Caribbean Ancestry (SOCA), Campus Activities Programming Association (CAPA) and Omicron Delta Kappa. The latter three have expressed interest in participating in the Day of Silence.

Mahoney said Pride Alliance is looking to expand their influence not only on campus but also to the Greater Lowell community. The alliance would like to work closely with the LGBT Task Force of Greater Lowell to help make a difference outside of UMass Lowell’s borders.

Mahoney says students interested in joining Pride Alliance can stop by their office (McGauvran 355B), email PrideAllianceUML@gmail.com, or attend the alliance’s weekly meetings on Thursdays in O’Leary 325 at 7 p.m.