Long Beach City College hosted its fifth annual Lavender Grad celebration on May 9, which celebrated LGBTQIA+ students who are graduating this spring.
The tradition of Lavender Grad, or pride graduations, started at the University of Michigan in 1995, where only three people attended. Since then, Lavender Grads have become something that is celebrated at most colleges, attendance numbers increase every year.
This year, LBCC’s celebration had a record high of 50 RSVP’s.
The event was hosted to give LGBTQIA+ students the opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments in a more intimate environment, allowing them to invite friends and family who have supported them in their journey.
Students and faculty conversing at the Long Beach City College Cultural Grad Celebration, Lavender Grad. This celebration was designed to honor LGBTQIA+ students and their academic achievements and took place on May 9, 2025. (Addison Farris)
Jerome Hunt, a LBCC professor and organizer of the event, spoke on why this was such an important event to hold.
“We work in conjunction with the other cultural grad celebrations, but this one very important to me because it’s something that we need to do to make sure that our LGBTQIA+ students feel welcomed, seen and valued here on campus,” Hunt said.
At LBCC, Hunt has been heavily involved in LGBTQIA+ studies, events, and organizations, as well as teaches African American LGBTQIA+ Politics, and is also openly part of the LGBTQIA+ community himself.
The event included a land acknowledgement to the Gabrielino and Tongva people and their connection to the land that LBCC sits on.
The program included speeches given by Hunt, Superintendent-President Mike Munoz, student speaker Kyshia Hearns, and keynote speaker Sydney Rogers.
As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, Munoz has been a strong advocate on campus for various pride events and opportunities for students.
“These Cultural Graduation Celebrations give us the opportunity to really amplify the success of our students, really drilling down at the individual student level, and honoring them and their decision to continue their education despite many of the obstacles in front of them and to celebrate their accomplishment,” Munoz said.
For many LGBTQIA+ students, the coming out process can be a difficult experience, and the fear of not being accepted by friends and family can make it hard to focus on school.
For other queer students, they might not yet be out to their families. It is extra important that LBCC creates a space, like the Lavender Grad, for LGBTQIA+ students to come together and celebrate each other’s accomplishments.
Student speaker, Kyshia Hearns, was invited to this event based on her accomplishments at Long Beach City College as a queer student.
“I skipped a semester going to school, then I came back because I just felt this pull towards education, and I wanted to share my story to let folks know that it’s not impossible, and if you think you can’t do it, you can. I’m not the first person to experience what I’m experiencing, so I can either succumb to it or I can walk through the fire and conquer it,” Hearns said.
After the speakers finished sharing, graduating students were then recognized.
Each student gets their name individually called out and is handed a graduation gift bag and a rainbow cord to wear at the official graduation.
Each student was also given the chance to speak on the mic, to thank any family members or support systems that helped them in their academic journey.