For some students, parental support can go a long way, but to sophomore Alex Peck, her entire “family” is what makes the difference.
“My parents said they had a feeling about it,” Peck said. “Everyone seems to worry about a lot of people seeing it on Facebook and stuff, but I’ve never had anyone be very negative to me about it.”
Peck “came out” at 16 years old and is the President of Vision, a campus LGBT group that is “like a family.” Now 19, Peck has been involved with Vision for three years.
For Coming Out Week, Peck and other members planned daily events, which end Saturday. One of Vision’s new events this year is a campus-wide video production called “It Gets Better,” a series of videos Vision plans to post on YouTube in response to recent suicides throughout the country.
“By doing it we really just want to raise money and awareness,” Peck said. “We want people to be comfortable about who they are.”
Vision will also co-host its annual ball Saturday along with Honoring, Urging, Empowering Queer People of Color.
Tobias Spears, Vision’s adviser helped to set up the week’s events by working with group members like Peck. This is Spears’ first year at the University.
“I have seven years of advising experience but this has by far been the most exciting,” Spears said. “This year in particular has been outstanding, we’ve had a really big boom in participation.”
This year, Vision has seen an increase in members from about 20 to upwards of 50 or so, Peck said.
“We’ve got one of the biggest freshmen classes this year and a lot of people are wanting to get involved,” Peck said. “It’s definitely a better Vision metaphorically and literally this year.”
Lower attendance in past years may have been due to poor organization within the group, Peck said.
“Things really started to fall apart last year,” Peck said. “We’ve got a very diverse and involved group now, with the new people this year.”
Vision’s executive board has also played a big role in the group’s success this year too, Spears said.
Patrick Wolfkile, a sophomore group member is now in his second year within Vision. Wolfkile agrees with Peck and Spears about the welcoming feeling this year’s Vision has created.
“It’s definitely a family atmosphere,” Wolfkile said. “Everyone’s very welcoming and it’s a very fun and relaxing thing to do on Tuesday nights.”
While Wolfkile got involved with Vision his freshman year, Peck got involved before starting classes on campus, about a year after she “came out.”
“Vision’s a great organization, we have a lot of fun,” Peck said. “It’s a little terrifying at first because we aren’t really censored around each other, but that’s what turns it into more of a family kind of thing.”
