Surely you have some questions when you look at our pages or have heard about us before. What do we actually do? How do meetings work? What are regulars’ tables? You are always welcome to come to our office and ask about us in person – alternatively you are welcome to read the information on this page.
What do you actually do?
As a queer department of the student council at OvGU, we are primarily involved in the university context and advocate for the rights of queer students. Nevertheless, non-students are also welcome to join us and they have a voice as well. As regular events, we hold meetings and organize weekly regulars’ tables. Furthermore, we create publicity campaigns, e.g. booths at events, info posts on the website and social media, travel to CSDs, participate in CAMPUSpride and much more. Furthermore, it is important to us to offer queer people a safe space where people can and are allowed to be who they are, as long as they don’t violate general rules of conduct (for more details, feel free to read our awareness concept: https://queercampus.stura-md.de/awareness-konzept/).
How do your meetings take place?
Unless otherwise specified, the meetings take place once a week and at our place. We first start with talking about how we feel and, if new people are present, with a round of introductions. Then we go through the agenda, which is set before each meeting. The structure is usually similar: first, all upcoming dates are announced, members are then given the opportunity to make a request if there is a need for it, and reports are given on recent events. Then we handle requests that we have received through our channels in the past week and internal (concerns within the unit) as well as external matters (anything outside the unit, e.g. collaborations) are discussed. Then we plan upcoming events and discuss ideas. Lastly, we have the “Other” item where anything that doesn’t fit into the other categories can be addressed.
What are regulars’ tables? How do they take place?
Regulars’ tables are offers from us, which are there so that queer people can network with each other, get to know new people and spend a nice evening together. They usually take place at our place. Our regulars’ tables take place every Friday with a different theme. The themes can sometimes include activities such as game nights, karaoke sessions, clothing swaps, or crafts, and other times regulars’ tables can be more like talk sessions on various topics, such as aromanticism, polyamory, kink, neurodivergence, and more. It is always worthwhile to have a look at our calendar if you want to know which regulars’ table is coming up next. There you will also find a description of the respective regulars’ table as well as information about the time and place. Regulars’ tables are usually open to the public and open to everyone; even if you are not queer and/or not a student, you can come by. However, some regulars’ tables are offered exclusively to certain groups of people, such as BIPOC or Aspec* regulars’ tables. If a regulars’ table is exclusive, this will be communicated in the description.
Side note: Currently, our page automatically switches to German if you try to access the calendar in the English version. We try to fix this in the future. As of now, all events in the calendar include an English description, as well.
What is the Queer Students’ Meet-Up?
The Queer Studi-Treff is a networking meeting of the three queer university groups Queer Campus, OVGUpride and Queer² from Magdeburg. The meetings are announced in the calendar on the website and on social media. We meet once a quarter to exchange ideas, network and relax, in the form of barbecue or bar evenings, for example. Even as a non-student and/or person who does not belong to any of these groups, you can come by.
Who can join you? How can I become a member? Do I have to become a member to join your activities?
Everyone can join in who wants to! It doesn’t matter if you are queer or not, if you are a student, if you have studied or if you have never started studying – we are happy if you come by. If you are a student and want to become a member, you can simply tell our speakers, they will take your name, email address and matriculation number and – done, you are a member! If you are not a student at OvGU, the members have to vote on your membership. As a member you have only rights, no obligations. You are allowed to participate in voting and, if you want, you get access to our internal Discord server, where most of the Orga takes place. However, becoming a member is not a requirement to join us.
What are your areas of responsibility?
Speakers. These persons “represent” the unit, are responsible for the main communication with the student council, prepare the agenda for the meetings and can be consulted by persons from other areas of responsibility.
Awareness-Team. These persons are the first contact persons in case of problems, complaints or discomfort within the unit. At our events we try to provide at least one awareness person from our team who makes sure that all visitors are well and treat each other respectfully..
Email Representative. These people manage our e-mail box, read and write mails and answer them.
Website Administrators. These people manage the website, create new pages when needed, write content for them and keep the site up to date. Mainly this includes updating our calendar and adding new events at least once a month.
Social Media Representative. These people are responsible for our Instagram and Facebook channels. Their tasks include creating sharepics for events, infoposts and the like, uploading the posts with appropriate descriptions to our channels, and responding to direct messages.
I have a problem, I feel uncomfortable or something is bothering me. Who can I contact?
You can always contact our awareness team if you have any problems or concerns. You can find out who is responsible for this here: https://queercampus.stura-md.de/ueber-uns/. Alternatively, you have the possibility to use our awareness mailbox in our rooms, where you can anonymously drop your concern. If you like, you can also write an email to the awareness team: awareness.qc@stura-md.de. We ask that you do not air possible awareness concerns on our social media channels or in our Signal group, for the protection of other members, as people who are not responsible for awareness may not be able to handle stressful or difficult issues.