DeKALB – The Gender and Sexuality Resource Center held the LGBTQ+ Alumni and Friends Homecoming Social on Tuesday via Zoom meeting.

The event began with a game of Kahoot for the attendees featuring trivia questions about the history of LGBTQ+ student organizations at NIU.

One test of participants’ knowledge was whether they knew that the Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality is not a part of the College of Education.

There was also a showcase of the GSRC’s new room in the Peters Campus Life Building and informational resources for NIU LGBTQ+ students.

Molly Holmes, director of the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, showed off the renovations completed last semester during the meeting.

Among these changes are brightly painted red walls, a gender inclusive bathroom and a host of artwork from LGBTQ+ artists.

Ray Banks, a 1986 NIU alum, was one of the attendees and explained how he is still committed to helping students – LGBTQ+ students in particular – at NIU after decades.

Both Banks and his husband, Eric Erickson, serve as Forward Campaign chairpersons. The Forward Campaign is a fundraiser that pledges to raise $300 million for NIU student success.

“We are so invested in the university and what’s going on there and helping as part of the Forward Campaign, and Eric (Erickson) and I are co-chairs of that Forward Campaign,” Banks said. “We recognize how important it is for the LGBTQ+ community to have representation.”

The Gender and Sexuality Resource Center is located in the Peters Campus Life Building, Room 132.