Last weekend, Oglethorpe University students, faculty and staff joined the City of Atlanta for one of the largest celebrations of the LGBTQ+ community in the country: Atlanta Pride.

After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the beloved festival returned this year as vibrant as ever, bringing together people and communities from across the state — so of course OU wanted to join the fun!

Two Oglethorpe students at the 2022 Atlanta Pride Parade

On Saturday, student, faculty and staff volunteers manned an Oglethorpe University booth in the bustling Pride Marketplace in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park. Petrels handed out OU gear to festival-goers as they commuted between events and spoke with young attendees about the university.

On Sunday, Petrels were joined by Oglethorpe University President Nick Ladany at the Atlanta Pride Parade, a massive cavalcade that marches down one of the busiest streets in Midtown. Graced with blue skies and cool fall weather, the Oglethorpe representatives held aloft an OU banner as they showed off their Petrel Pride.

Members of OUtlet at the Atlanta Pride Parade

The university’s presence at this year’s Atlanta Pride was organized by Dr. Laura Renée Chandler, OU’s Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She plans to continue to grow the university’s presence at staple Atlanta traditions like this one.

Many of the weekend’s attendees represented OUtlet, the LGBTQ+ advocacy organization on campus. After a brief hiatus, the organization was recently revived by Alex Nukpi ’24, Kike Hernadez ’24, Sam McCalla ’24, Ambrose Blanchard ’24, Rachael Morris ’24 and advisor Elizabeth Peterson, director of the OU Museum of Art.

OUtlet is many things to Oglethorpe students: a meeting place for members of Oglethorpe’s LGBTQIA+ community, an educational resource for fellow Petrels, a place to find resources in the greater Atlanta community and, most importantly, a safe space.