U. Connecticut Recruits ‘LGBTQ+’ Scholars For High School ‘Queer Science’ Event

Authored by Mia Milner via The College Fix,

The University of Connecticut’s College of Engineering sought LGBTQ+ scientists and engineers to volunteer at its recent “Queer Science” conference, a free event for high school students interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The event is “designed to support the success” of high school students “who are or are allies of LGBTQIA+ students,” according to the event webpage. Students spend the day touring labs and doing STEM activities with “proud LGBTQIA+ students and researchers at UConn,” the webpage states.

This year, 18 high school students participated in the Oct. 17 event by extracting DNA from a pumpkin and making ice cream “using the wonders of chemistry (liquid nitrogen) to flash-freeze fresh cream,” according to a university article about the event.

“What exactly is ‘queer science’? Well, it can be any science conducted by a queer researcher,” the article states. The event “provides an opportunity to counter the stereotypical image of a ‘scientist’ as a straight, white, cisgender man – which the academy tends to consider the ‘default’ identity – and invite students of other identities to imagine themselves joining these fields.”

The “Queer Science” event has been offered at the university since 2022 “with the goal of supporting Connecticut youth while offering state-of-the-art laboratory experiences and opportunities for hands-on science demonstrations,” according to a UConn Today article.

Although the university mentions that all students and scientists are welcome, it describes the event as an opportunity for LGBTQ+ high school students to meet LGBTQ+ scientists and engineers.

“We appreciate the support from our straight cis allies but would like all of the scientists and engineers helping on the day of Queer Science to also identify as queer/LGBTQ+,” a volunteer registration form for this year’s conference stated.

It is not clear how the project is funded or if tax dollars are used. The College Fix contacted the university media relations office seeking comment on the event’s volunteer criteria and funding, but it did not respond to multiple requests for comment by phone or email over the past two weeks.

The event is sponsored by the university’s Vergnano Institute for Impact, which works to “help students discover opportunities in STEM” through various K-12 educational events, according to its website.

The University of Connecticut has funded other LGBTQ-linked science programs in the past as well.

Last year, The Fix reported that the university gave out a series of DEI grants for projects aimed at making marine science and math “more diverse.”

Similar programs also operate at at least two public institutions, the University of Minnesota and the Georgia Institute of Technology. All three use nearly identical imagery for their “Queer Science” programs.

The University of Minnesota’s program also is made up primarily of volunteers – referred to as “volunqueers” – who identify as LGBTQ+. It runs a Queer Science Day, “which brings local high schoolers to the U for a day of hands-on experiments, demos, and community building,” according to the event website.

Meanwhile, Georgia Tech’s program states that one of the goals is to give high schoolers an opportunity to “meet LGBTQIA+ scientists, try hands-on and interactive demonstrations, and find their passion for STEM-related fields!”