A Queer Sparkling Night

Words by Sandra Buol

Looking at student activities on campus, it’s sometimes easy to forget that there is a large group of students that is less heard of and less involved in campus life. Many coursework postgrads only come in for class, and many HDR, PhD candidates and postdocs work quite isolated – especially international ones without much of a social network.

Offering them a space to socialise is part of SUPRA’s job. Their Wine&Cheese gatherings are immensely popular for that reason. This week, the SUPRA Queer Network aimed to provide a similar experience for the postgrad queers. Held at Hermann’s Bar, it was the first event the new Queer Officer Carolyn Zhou organised this term. “The idea behind it is mainly to send out the message to the community that we do have such a network at SUPRA and we do want to expand our influence,” she told Pulp. She hoped people would take the opportunity to connect with others.

The Queer Sparkling Night wasn’t as crowded as the Wine&Cheese events usually are – which allowed to get around and talking with many different peeps. The generous bar tab helped to overcome initial shyness, and very quickly everyone was talking.

Zhou was happy about the evening’s turnout. The Queer Network has more plans in the making, however, they won’t necessarily be in the same fashion. “We want our events to be tailored to queers’ needs – this is why we’ll carry out some surveys very soon,” she said.