LGBTQ+ Updates
July 2025
Incoming Students Edition!!!
What you need to know about our Center before the school year begins…
FAQ:
What is the LGBTQ+ Center?
We are a unit under the Division of Student Life designed to support the academic, professional, and personal growth of all students at WVU.
We provide academic support of student work around LGBTQ+ topics, support student initiatives, collaborate with departments from all over WVU, and advise student organizations. We are here to help students have meaningful and impactful experiences while they’re here–inside and outside of the classroom.
Our services are designed to fit the needs of students at WVU, but we are available to all faculty, staff, and the broader West Virginia community. These services revolve around education, engagement, and advocacy related to the LGBTQ+ community.
Where is the LGBTQ+ Center?
You can find our office on the 2nd floor of the Mountainlair. We are open 8:15-4:45, Monday through Friday.
You can follow us on Instagram or join the LGBTQ+ Club’s Discord Server to keep up with what we’re doing. You’re already subscribed to the newsletter, so you’re ahead of the curve!
Sometimes we collaborate with different departments.
What’s the LGBTQ+ Center doing this year?
We will have at least two programs every month ranging from large-scale social gatherings like our Annual Mix & Mingle to small workshops designed to help you learn to use your natural strengths to advocate for the things you care about.
We’re collaborating with several student organizations, including the LGBTQ+ Club and Rainbow Coats. These students are organizing movie nights, spearheading suicide prevention efforts, and fostering connections with partners and organizations all over the state. We’re so proud to support their initiatives!
Save the dates!
Friday, August 22nd is the first LGBTQ+ Club meeting of the semester! Kick off the year with all sorts of new friends and get involved with your community right off the bat.
Friday, September 12th from 5:30-8:30 pm. In the Mountainlair Ballrooms, we will have our Welcome Back Mix & Mingle
Tuesday, November 11th from 5:30-8:30 on the 2nd floor of the Mountainlair, we are partnering with Morgantown Pride and the West Virginia Trans Coalition to commemorate the Trans Day of Remembrance with a candlelight vigil & social hour.
Sunday, April 19th we are collaborating with the LGBTQ+ Club to celebrate a successful year with our happiest annual events: Lavender Graduation and the Gayla! This year’s theme is garden masquerade, and we will have several events ahead of time to help make decorations and costumes for both events.
AND MORE! Check out our events page or subscribe to our Google Calendar to be the first to receive more information.
So you want to change your name….
Fantastic! We can help with that.
People have all sorts of reasons for wanting to use a name that’s different from what appears on their legal documents. The LGBTQ+ Center acts as a resource that helps people be identified how they choose.
There are two paths available for changing your name: informally within WVU’s systems that does not change your legal documentation, or fully legally changing your name on all of your documents.
To change your name only within WVU’s systems, including printing a new name on your Student ID Card and updating your name in the online systems, pay us a visit! We can help you get your name informally updated at no cost to you.
To change your name legally on all documentation inside and outside of WVU, you can do it yourself with the guidance of the Name & Gender Change Guide For West Virginia Residents in the LGBTQ+ Center, or you can request assistance from Student Legal Services.
Community Corner
This section is open to the public! Events outside of WVU are posted here.
Our Place
The Co-Op 131 Pleasant Street, Morgantown
Wednesday, May 21st from 6:00-10:00 pm.
Monthly, every third Wednesday
All ages 18+ welcome
Didn’t we have a great time at Our Place last month?Let’s do it again!
Wednesday, May 21, 6pm - 10 pm, drop by anytime!
Play games, dance, eat, and hang out with other queer folks someplace cool besides a bar. Comfortable couches, good lighting, and great eats right next door at BCMac.
Come join us at Our Place, a calm, relaxing, safe space for our people at the Co-Op in Morgantown. Early evening so you’re not out too late!
Bulletin Board
The Rainbow Room Sex Education Summer Session
Every Sunday from June 1 - August 24
Online
A nationally expanded, weekly “Listen and Learn” sex education virtual series led alongside incredible LGBTQ+ health educators from all across the country. The Rainbow Room is a webinar series centered on LGBTQ+ sex ed! Planned Parenthood and their partners will cover the basics of talking through comprehensive consent, power dynamics in relationships, and navigating communication! By and for LGBTQ+ people, they are jumping right in to fill in any gaps, connect and discuss what is important to our community, and go in-depth on subjects most sex ed doesn’t cover. This is a space to feel seen, heard, and empowered with the knowledge we’ve always deserved.
Register for July’s webinars on Mental Health, Community Support, and Resilience (7/13), Deconstructing Sexual Scripts (18+) (7/20), and Safer Sex: STIs, Birth Control, and Stigma (7/27).
____________________________
Research - Call for Participants
List of academic research in need of participants. Studies must be IRB approved. Priority will be given to research being conducted as a requirement to fulfill academic degree.
____________________________
Don’t hesitate to reach out for more information on these events and resources! More info about research opportunities can be found on our website.
Summer Hours
We will be open from 8:15-4:45 Monday through Friday.
You can reach us by email at lgbtq@mail.wvu.edu
Check out our events page or subscribe to our Google Calendar to be the first to receive more information.