Point Park students Silmari Muñoz and Heather Leasure were shocked last year when they found out that Point Park didn’t have any LGBTQ groups on campus. 

The two took it upon themselves to form the Rainbow Club last semester, in hopes that it would be a means of educating the student body. 

“I think that a lot of Point Park students are very open minded and liberal, but they don’t seem to know about trans and bisexual issues. There’s always more of a focus on gay males,” said Muñoz, the club’s current president.  

According to Muñoz, a junior education major, members discuss current events and issues relevant to the LGBTQ community during their weekly meetings. The club held a voter registration event on last Monday in response to the recent presidential primary debates. 

While the club wasn’t directly involved in the recent creation of the new SafeZone program, they have become a resource for faculty and professors all across campus. 

According to Sarah Shulz, assistant professor of behavioral science and advisor to the Rainbow Club, SafeZone is a training program that the university administration began for faculty and staff members. 

The program was created so that LGBTQ students seeking assistance can reach out to trained faculty knowing that they have a more nuanced and empathetic understanding of the students’ needs. 

Anyone who participates in the SafeZone project is given information about the Rainbow Club.

“They provide [staff and faculty] with ways to contact us in case they want to ask us any questions or come visit a meeting,” Muñoz said.  

In addition to being a source of education, the club has also created a close-knit community for its members. 

“The club has been a highlight of my time at Point Park; the members are very near and dear to my heart and I am so grateful for the opportunity to take on a leadership role,” said the club’s treasurer and junior English major, Enrico Caparelli, in an email interview last Monday.  

“One of the first things that students want to know when they start a new college is, ‘how can I find my tribe?’”  Schulz, who was also a member of her own university’s LGBTQ club, said. 

The club has given some members a place in which they feel safe to be open about their gender and sexual orientation. 

“If I had had something like the Rainbow Club in high school, I would have been a lot better off,” said junior photography major and Rainbow Club member Kirsten Heagy. “Having a club on campus that supports this community is really important.” 

People who are not part of the LGBTQ community are encouraged to attend meetings. 

“As long as you’re nice, you’re welcome to come,” Muñoz said. 

The Rainbow Club meets every Monday at 5 p.m. in 301 Academic Hall.