The Lavender Graduation Ceremony is a formal recognition of the academic achievements and the special contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and ally (LGBTQ+) students have made to our Delta community. This annual ceremony exists in solidarity with the many other Lavender Graduation ceremonies at college and universities across the country to honor LGBTQ+ students and their allies. This tradition began with Dr. Ronni Sanlo, a Jewish lesbian, who was denied the opportunity to attend the graduations of her children because of her sexual orientation. It was through this experience that she instituted the first Lavender Graduation ceremony at the University of Michigan in 1995.
The significance of “Lavender” is important to LGBTQ+ history. It is a combination of the pink triangle that gay men were forced to wear in concentration camps and the black triangle designating lesbians as political prisoners in Nazi Germany. The LGBTQ+ civil rights movement took these symbols of hatred and combined them to make symbols and color of pride and community.
The Delta Pride Center is proud to host San Joaquin Delta College’s annual Lavender Graduation held during the month of May. Students who graduate from Delta within the academic year (fall, spring, or summer semester) may participate in the Lavender Graduation. Registration typically opens March or April.