Kicking off the first day of the fall semester, the LGBTQ+ resource center hosted its annual Drag Bingo event.
Drag Bingo takes place at the start of the fall semester and is one of the resource center’s biggest and most attended events, thanks to the cultural significance behind drag that makes it the art form it is renowned for.
Although the resource center is no longer working directly with Beauty Beyond Drag, their new outsourcing contracts are bringing back performers such as Drag Bingo host, Bittersweet.
Marketing senior Becca Higgins is one of many who attended their first drag event.
“I went because of the community. You’re more likely to find people who are like you or others who won’t judge you,” Higgins said. “Sometimes it’s not safe to say, hey, I’m a part of this community, you could end up [outing] yourself to your class or you could end up in a dangerous situation.”
This is why events like Drag bingo are so important. It establishes a comfortable and safe environment even before the event takes place, making everyone feel welcome.
“People feel connected to them, especially because [drag performers] are unapologetically themselves,” Higgins said. “It attracts all different kinds of people who see themselves in performances.”
Higgins is hoping to return in the spring for the resource center’s Drag Trivia event.
LGBTQ+ Resource Center director, Becca Osborne, also shared her excitement and stressed the importance of the event.
Osborne believes that Drag is about supporting the LGBTQ+ community, especially since throughout history drag performers have supported us.
“Drag has a long and storied history within the LGBTQ+ community. Many early activists in the fight for civil rights were also drag performers,” Osborne said. “It’s a great way to celebrate community and inclusion, getting people involved and entertained, which is important in a place like Ferris, since Big Rapids is a very rural, very conservative and traditional area.”
It’s important to recognize how some students have never been exposed to certain things, such as drag, because it’s so often tied back into politics. For some, attending university is one of the best chances for students to expose themselves to other cultures, according to Western Michigan University’s article “Why all college students should take a crash course in culture”.
When it comes to event attendance, the large turnout rate is almost to be expected because the event has always done so well in the past.
“[Drag] events are our most attended events by far. We do Drag Bingo in the fall and Drag Trivia in the spring,” Osborne said. “Bingo has a higher attendance rate because it’s the first week of class, and nobody is bogged down by class assignments yet.”
Social justice senior Savannah Jones decided to return after attending her first drag show at Ferris last year.
“Drag is good if you’re looking for a community,” Jones said. “It brings people together.”
After attending the previous year’s fall drag bingo event, Jones was exposed to an environment that she felt comfortable in.
Jones also mentioned that helpful events with good communities backing them are a great place for transfer students and freshmen to meet others on campus whom they feel comfortable around.
“Someone may not know a lot of people, but they might go to Drag Bingo and find a table to sit with,” Jones said. “Since the atmosphere is so uplifting and positive, everyone is just happy.”
With Drag bingo being the LGBTQ+ resource center’s most attended event of the year, Osborne decided to put the event at the beginning of the fall semester. allowing themselves an opportunity to reach out to Ferris students and let them know what the resource center can do for them. The resource center even decided this year to display a QR code on screen during the drag bingo event for attendees to fill out and give feedback.
The purpose of cultural events is to learn and bond with others around us. With the amount of attention the drag events have continued to draw throughout the years, it’s clear that Drag does have a place at Ferris.
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C.E. C.F.