Students Travel to NYC for IvyQ Conference
Sharang Biswas ’12 had the opportunity to perform in his first drag show and meet professional drag queens this past Friday during a drag workshop at the 2011 IvyQ Conference. The experience was “very interesting,” he said.
Biswas was one of 26 Dartmouth students to attend the second annual Ivy League conference for LGBTQ students and their allies, hosted by Columbia Univeristy, last weekend. The IvyQ conference aims at “networking to create a strong and social pan-Ivy LGBTQA community,” according to the organization’s website.
This year’s conference was attended by about 400 students and lasted from February 17-20. A Columbia student hosted each participant.
During the three days of the conference, students attended seven categories of events, including programs about health, queer studies, identity, activism and sponsors.
“There is something for everyone,” Biswas said.
Biswas said his favorite workshop was one on queer portrayal in art, hosted by an art history professor and two New York museum exhibition creators.
The conference’s keynote speaker was Amanda Simpson, the Senior Technical Advisor to the Under Secretary of Commerce who transitioned her gender during 2000. Dartmouth alumna Joanne Herman ’75, a transsexual, also spoke about the lack of protection for transsexuals in most states.
Though more Dartmouth students attended the IvyQ conference this year, “Dartmouth doesn't have a very big out queer population,” Biswas said, adding that Brown University sent 80 students to participate.
The conference was a great opportunity “to network with other smart, driven gay people,” he said.
Biswas quoted a remark one of his friends made, “Wow, this is what straight people feel all the time,” about his experience on the trip.