By Rikki Laser
Members of the LGBTQ community who are interested in the STEM field can find support in a new organization on campus.
oSTEM, or Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, earned itself members.
“In the STEM field, there aren’t a lot of support groups targeted toward the LGBTQ community,” University of Iowa student and oSTEM member Mariama Corneh said. “We have support groups for black engineers, Hispanic engineers, and major specific groups, but for the LGBTQ community, there wasn’t anything at all.”
The founders started the organization-approval process in January and were officially recognized on March 2 of this year.
“We [primarily] offer that support and [a sense of] community. We also celebrate the history and contributions of queer scientists … people who really contributed to the sciences or our understanding of them and how it connects to queer people,” UI student and oSTEM President Harrison Freund said.
The organization is also working on programs that will improve how LGBTQ community members are viewed in their professional ventures.
“We’re also working on developing a program that we could do to reach out to the community and make sure that queer people are celebrated in their fields,” Freund said. “There’s also a professional development side [to the organization], so working on how to come out in the workplace, how to present yourself and be professional, and how to navigate those issues and possible discrimination.”
Freund said organizers have worked on planning the organization since spring 2014.
Although the club has only just begun, its members enjoy themselves.
“I’ve enjoyed watching the coming together of our entire group,” Corneh said. “In the beginning … we’d have people come, and they’d be shy, and you could see [they were trying] to see if oSTEM was an organization that would really support them in the ways that they wanted support. Most people came away pretty happy. We really are there to support you in any way that we can.”
oSTEM held an event called Catch Game in April. It was based on a portion of the TV show “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” in which participants imitated famous people. In the club, however, the members dressed as famous scientists instead.
Lukas Monico, the treasurer of the club, is excited about the upcoming events.
“Geek Chic is a fashion show, but it’s science theme,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it because it will be a fun, cute little event.”
The event is scheduled to take place in early November.
The group may also appear in the Homecoming parade on Sept. 30.
“We’re also going to be in the Homecoming parade, hopefully, pending on funding,” he said. “A group of our nature hasn’t been in the parade before, at least to my knowledge, so it’ll be a first not just for the LGBTQ community but for the university as a whole.”
Anyone is eligible to join, LGBTQ or not, Freund said.
The next meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in 341 IMU.
