Since its inception, Western Carolina University’s Sexuality and Gender Alliance (SAGA) has promoted advocacy and awareness for the LGBT+ community.
The student organization’s purpose is to provide support and outreach, as well as resources and information, for individuals of all identities and sexualities.
SAGA is an organization that prides itself on providing a safe haven for its members in support of LGBT+ identified students. The organization has worked hard to provide a social outlet for its members and their allies in hopes of making individuals feel comfortable about being themselves.
As the president of SAGA, sophomore Max Ringenbach, is the face of the organization and he tries to maintain this safe space for members. If there is ever an issue with a member being threatened or any iteration thereof, Ringenbach takes that issue directly to administration.
His top priority is to keep his members safe because not everyone acts positively toward the LGBT+community. When there are meetings, he does not let any of them leave alone for their safety. Sometimes he does not publicize when and where the meetings will take place each week and instead tries to keep it in a bubble of the members.
Although it is hard to change the hearts and minds of every person who thinks negatively towards the LGBT+ community, SAGA’s mission is to educate the WCU community on issues like homophobia, transphobia, etc. one step at a time.
In order to achieve its goals, SAGA holds social events throughout the year such as its first “second-chance prom” held on Valentine’s Day 2018.
Since SAGA represents a minority here on campus, we wanted to include their voice in our podcast series.
If you or anyone you know has faced discrimination or bias here on campus, you can report it online through the complaints and concerns website page or contact student affairs at (828) 227-7147.
If you would like to share your story, you can contact WCJ’s advisor at kspasovska@email.wcu.edu.
Click below to listen to our episode on SAGA.
Audio edited by Garrett Readling
