Throughout the fall, the Women’s Resource Center (WRC) and LGBTQIA Resource Center will be hosting free events for students, most of which are designed to serve as forums for open discussion.

The Women’s Resource Center is hosting several events for groups of women at Georgia Tech, including Community Circles, a biweekly dialogue for African American, Asian, and Latinx women; and Women of Color and Study Abroad, which will be held Thursday, Oct. 10, in the Student Center, Room 321.

Graduate student women may be interested in the Graduate Women’s Writing Circle, which is hosted in the Smithgall (Flag) Building, Suite 131, every Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Two trained graduate peer facilitators also host a monthly Women’s GradChat, the last two sessions of which will be held on Thursday, Oct. 24, and Thursday, Nov. 21.

Both the Community Circles and GradChats are new programs this semester. The Community Circles are part of the WRC’s new Women of Color Initiative, which they launched with OMED: Educational Services. The GradChats came from a partnership between the WRC and Graduate Student Government Association.

“After completing multiple focus groups and reviewing campus climate data, the Women's Resource Center has chosen to deepen our level of commitment to women of color and graduate women through intentional programming that strives to meet their specific needs and experiences,” said Melanie DeMaeyer, director of the WRC. “We're excited to launch these programs — and expand our resources for these groups over the next year.”

Both undergraduate and graduate women can attend the WRC’s Craft Circles on Oct. 30 and Nov. 15. The Oct. 30 Craft Circle will be Harry Potter-themed and cohosted with the LGBTQIA Resource Center’s Gay Christmas. Visit the WRC Programs page for more information on upcoming events and RSVP links.

The LGBTQIA Resource Center also hosts events for specific groups within the LGBTQIA community. New events this year include Closed Circuit Q Chats and a meeting group for the existing Ace Space. Q Chats are student discussion groups that meet every other week and are open to queer people of color; trans, gender nonconforming, and gender questioning students; and closeted and questioning students. Most Q Chats will be held in the LGBTQIA Resource Center, though some will only disclose the meeting location upon request to protect attendees’ identities. Queer Coffeehouse events take place on a monthly basis and serve coffee and treats while offering a casual discussion forum. The next Queer Coffeehouse will be held Monday, Nov. 11.

The Center’s highlighted events for the fall are this week, which is OUT Week. These events include a Reading Rainbows workshop, Fostering Families: LGBTQIA Youth in Foster Care, tabling at the second annual Pride Fest, and walking in the Oct. 13 Atlanta Pride Parade with Pride Alliance and the Tech Trolley. The Center will also host an educational event for Trans Day of Remembrance on Nov. 20.

“We hope that our programs provide a well-balanced mixture of education, support, community-building, advocacy, and fun,” said Camilla Brewer, coordinator for the LGBTQIA Resource Center.

For more information on LGBTQIA programs, including Safe Space training for all students, visit the Center’s Student Programs page. Some Safe Space training will also be available during OUT Week. Be sure to check which events require advance registration.