The beginning of the 2024-2025 school year welcomed many new faces to Augustana College. Of these was one Augustana Alum who chose to return to campus. This time, they have a new role: LGBTQ+ coordinator for Augustana’s Office of Student Inclusion and Diversity (OSID).
Sam Wright graduated from Augustana in 2020 during the beginning of a global pandemic. OSID was created in 2018 while they were in school, but there was not yet an LGBTQ+ coordinator position. A year into the pandemic, the position was created and Daisy Moran, a 2018 graduate from the University of Illinois, was hired.
Moran served as Augustana’s LGBTQ+ coordinator from 2021 until 2023, leaving at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year. This left the position open throughout the entirety of the year, with Wright beginning in the role on July 8, 2024.
When a queer-identifying First-Year lost their life to suicide in early 2024, Augustana students felt the impact of that loss in varying ways. Counseling services, Campus Ministries and other resources were brought in to help, but there was no LGBTQ+ coordinator who may have served as a source of comfort for other queer-identifying students during that time.
Wright said they hope to be able to provide this type of safe space for all students, regardless of identity.
“My goals are to make sure people know I’m here for them, whether they’re a part of the community or not,” Wright said. “I aspire to connect the Quad Cities community with the Augie community and make sure that the people on our campus feel supported and like they have a place to go outside of the Augie bubble.”
While OSID and Wright’s office are consistent resources for students on campus, there are many other places nearby that can help in other ways. The Project of the Quad Cities and Clock Inc. are two local resources that anyone can utilize.
The Project focuses mainly on the healthcare side, offering LGBTQ+ primary care, gender affirming care, behavioral health resources and STD testing.
Clock Inc., while also focusing on mental health, provides more resources for those who need a boost socially. They offer a free gender affirming clothing closet where transgender and nonbinary people can find clothing that makes them comfortable.
The organization also offers a free binder program, where transgender and nonbinary people can get fitted for a chest binder to help them feel more comfortable in their body. Some of their most notable resources, however, are their holiday celebrations.
“Clock Inc. has mental health services as well as ClocksMas [and] ClocksGiving, making sure that people who can’t go home, whether that’s financially, physically or emotionally, [know] that there’s a spot for them and it doesn’t have to be at Augie,” Wright said.
Resources for LGBTQ+ individuals in the Quad Cities are plentiful. But for those unable to travel off campus, Wright said OSID has plenty of chances to get involved and get support when needed.
“I plan on doing a pretty big LGBTQ+ history month kickoff with a panel of community members called Queerly Beloved,” Wright said. “Just trying to keep LGBTQ+ individuals relevant, and keep them here on campus, [that’s] really my goal.”
