The annual Rainbow Crosswalk Painting event was held this past Tuesday and was hosted by Impact with hopes on bringing visibility, acceptance, and optimism to both the University and the Whitewater community.
Impact is an organization run by students for LGBTQ students and allies. This event brings together students who frequent the PB Poorman Pride Center Space, the PB Pride Center Peer Educators, Interns, Graduate Assistant and LGBTQ Coordinator, the Whitewater community members, Professors and Faculty in the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, Alumni, Graduate students, members of Impact, and other University staff and allies such as Chancellor Corey King, who attended this year’s event.
(Ky McCombe)
For those unfamiliar with the PB Poorman Pride Center space, it is located in the James R. Connor University Center and is situated in the Warhawk Connection Center among the other intercultural organizations.
The PB Poorman Pride Center was established in 2008 and was named after Dr. P. B. Poorman or Paula B. Poorman a former UW-Whitewater faculty member who played an instrumental role in supporting the LGBTQ community at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater and across the UW System. The center continues to honor her legacy, despite her untimely passing in 2007. The PB Poorman Pride Center offers a safe space for all students to study, chat, and use resources like the center’s closet and pantry for students.
The crosswalk for the event is located on Warhawk Drive between the Williams Center and Lot 19, near the volleyball courts. Each year the crosswalk becomes a rainbow with colors of black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple making the Philadelphia version of the Pride flag. This version of the traditional rainbow flag commonly seen for the LGBTQ community includes a black and brown stripe to represent specifically the (BIPOC) Black, Indigenous, and all the other people of color within the community.
Suppose you do something more than once it eventually can become a tradition. That can be said for Impact’s Crosswalk Painting. Although the event is fairly new to the community it definitely has become one of the more well-known events of both Impact and the Pride center.
An Alumni Chamomile Harrison who was on Impact E-board at the time had this to say, “…They were the ones working with campus…Steph did the heavy lift
ing with the administration to get it done.”
So, in Spring of 2021, after getting permission from the University with the help of the former LGBTQ Coordinator Dr. Stephanie Selvick the Crosswalk painting eventually became a reality.
The first crosswalk painting was held May 8, 2021, outside amidst Covid after Impact’s Rainbow Celebration of Excellence a ceremony commemorating graduating community members, recognizing achievements of community members, allies, and faculty.
Despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic during the inaugural event, the community persisted, and the event has since grown in size and activity. The event now includes a picnic gathering at Starin Park, providing an opportunity for students to connect with current community members and like-minded individuals.
This year, the event was held on September 17, 2024, after many of the classes were done. Led by LGBTQ Coordinator Dr. Sam Blake, Pride Center Intern Sawyer Reid, and Graduate Assistant Greg Cheatham they all met students in the center and walked them over to the location in case students got lost or just wanted to go as a group. Dr. Sam Blake, the current LGBTQ Coordinator and a Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, recently employed this Fall sets on continuing this tradition as they adjust to the campus and community.
Despite the potential impact of weather on the painted crosswalk, the memories created during these events endure, and the tradition is set to continue in the years to come under the leadership of Dr. Blake.