Taking on the role of faculty coordinator for the new Rainbow Raft Pride Center only a month ago, Chelle Tran has dedicated herself to creating a space LGBTQ+ students are proud to call their own.
This isn’t the first time Tran has built an affinity center from the ground up. As a student at Santa Clara University, she was part of the team that founded the Rainbow Resource Center in 2010.
“It felt full circle,” said Tran about leading the creation of another college pride center.
As for the progress the Rainbow Raft has made so far, extending their opening hours from three to five days a week and amassing anywhere from 10-20 students visiting the center daily, Tran shared her excitement, “I am ecstatic, I am jumping for joy.”
Tran described the support the center has received from both curious visitors and regulars as powerful, especially given the lack of such spaces when she was a student.
“We didn’t have a space for it, ” Tran said. “We met in clandestine meetings in the dark corners of campus to make sure we weren’t outed. So watching students interact and hang out together, even briefly, is one of my favorite things.”
Tran is using this enthusiasm to fuel her efforts to solidify the center’s programming, which she hopes to accomplish soon. She envisions focusing on three key domains: representation, education and resources.
The importance of representation, both on and off campus, is central to Tran’s vision.
“There have been needs assessments done that have shown students want to see their out faculty, staff, [and] fellow employees as well as members of the community and alumni,” said Tran, speaking about her plans to amplify visibility for LGBTQ+ students.
Tran aspires to fulfill this need by celebrating queer identities on campus by sharing their stories via a social media campaign. She also hopes to uplift queer musicians, celebrities and history in the campaign.
Another major goal for Tran is hosting LGBTQ+ movie nights, but space limitations are a concern.
“We acknowledge that we have a pretty small space right now,” Tran said. “In seeing the energy the center is building, I’ve been constantly saying that ‘we’re going to need a bigger boat.’”
Despite this, Tran has ensured the Rainbow Raft is well-connected to several organizations on campus, including Out in STEM, Otter Pride, Furries at CSUMB and Liberating Identities, Love, Acceptance, and Culture (LILAC).
For education, Tran wants the Rainbow Raft to host seminars that discuss topics like discovering sexuality and navigating relationship styles outside of heteronormativity.
With the National Transgender Health Summit (which provides a network of mental and physical health professionals to the trans community of San Francisco) as inspiration, Tran aims to educate, empower and energize the CSUMB community through discussions.
As a counselor at the Health and Wellness Center on campus, Tran understands the importance of mental and physical health resources for LGBTQ+ students.
“I want us to be a hub of information for students,” she said, explaining her goal for the Rainbow Raft to be a directory for community organizations, access to gender-affirming care and assistance with name changes for trans and nonbinary student’s email addresses or MyRaft usernames.
Constructing the Rainbow Raft has been a laborious process, Tran said, adding she is buoyed by encouragement she feels from students.
“The enthusiasm and the support, it just gives me so much life, it energizes me so much. And I’m an introvert, so it says something when witnessing people energizes me!”