Rainbow Soul

 Rainbow Soul

Rainbow Soul is Morgan State University's Official Gay/ Straight Alliance. We are committed to providing a safe environment for free expression and learning from diversity and our multitude of experiences at Morgan.

We are always looking for open minded individuals of all sexual orientations to come be a part of a group that is so important for the mental and emotional development of Morgan State University students.

Founded in 2001, by Claudia Leight and Dr. Melanie Cosby, Rainbow Soul was introduced as Morgan State University’s first and only Gay / Straight Alliance. Rainbow Soul was created after a program was presented, sponsored by the Counseling Center, called "Morgan's Closet: The Campus Climate for LGBT Students", by Dr. Cosby and Ms. Leight. The program drew a large crowd and a number of students expressed their interest in starting a bi weekly support group for LGBT students.

To the delight of many students, Rainbow Soul was born, and soon became a weekly event. Although faced with issues, Rainbow Soul prevailed and became a stronger organization. In the fall of 2006, under President Aaron Moore, membership increased by approximately 15 members. Not only did they hold events for members, they also held events that were open to all university students at venues such as the annual AIDS lock in.

In the fall of 2007, Rainbow Soul was taken over by Vanessa Bowling and Andrea Dickerson as Co-Presidents. Under their administration, Rainbow Soul’s membership increased by 30 members, and participated in a press conference with the Maryland Black Family Alliance to introduce the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act with the late Maryland state senator, and civil rights activist, Gwendolyn Britt. The press conference was televised and both Vanessa Bowling and Brandyn Taylor, Mr. Rainbow Soul, were interviewed for The Examiner and ABC 2. In April of 2008 Rainbow Soul and the Office of Student Activities sponsored the first annual Pride and Soul Week, a week to raise the awareness on campus of the issues that LGBT students face. During Pride and Soul week there was a showing of the documentary “For the Bible Tells Me So”, a forum on same sex marriage rights in Maryland, and the first annual Alternative Prom, where attendees were encouraged to bring dates regardless of their date’s gender.

Rainbow Soul was restructured during the 2008 – 2009 school year starting with a new Executive Board. Vanessa Bowling returned as President, Morgan Anderson as Vice President, Stee Ferrell as Promotions and Publicity, Sadie Ajavon as Treasurer, Samantha Master as Community Service Organizer, Dwayne Dubarry  as Secretary and Cynthia Philippe as Events Coordinator. The new Executive Board added game nights, member benefits and community service projects. The first community service project for the year was the “Ride for Change”, a bus trip sponsored by the Obama campaign, to West Philadelphia to register residents to vote in the historic 2008 election. Rainbow Soul also hosted their second annual Pride and Soul week April 5^th – 10^th 2009, which included the showing of Academy Award nominated “Milk”, a forum on hate crimes, a campus wide dodge ball game and the Alternative Prom with a “Go Green” theme to promote environmental awareness. Rainbow Soul also planed a LGBT and Ally Faculty and Staff Appreciation Reception to thank all of Morgan’s staff members for their support of Rainbow Soul and the LGBT community. This reception honored Ms. Claudia Leight and Ms. Toya Corbett, the schools Student Activities Coordinator.

The 2009-2010 school year is one that all of Rainbow Soul is excited about. We plan on having a Homecoming Suite for our LGBT Alumni, more community service endeavors and our annual Pride and Soul Week. If you have any questions please speak to Vanessa Bowling or Aqila Benjamin, Rainbow Soul’s President and Vice President, or any of the Executive Board members.

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