Students dance to Pink Pony Club at GSA formal April 7. The event hosted more than 86 people, students, alumni and faculty. Photo by Cassandra Barron
Pepperdine’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance Crossroads (GSA Crossroads) hosted the highest-attended formal in the history of the club amidst controversy surrounding the title of the event.
For the advertisement of the event, Intercultural Affairs (ICA) enforced a name change. Originally known as ‘Gay Formal,’ ICA requested GSA Crossroads remove the word ‘gay’ from posters and any official on-campus promotion of the event as they considered it exclusionary terminology, said Cassandra Barron, GSA Crossroads president and Graphic staff writer.
“Pepperdine is rolling back their policies and changing things, and we basically can’t have any events that could be considered exclusionary or like catered to one specific group,” Barron said.
The University supports 123 student organizations, representing a variety of interests in several categories, and they aim to ensure every group remains open to all students Myron McClure, director of ICA wrote in an email to the Graphic on April 7.
“During a conversation with the group, a representative from Student Affairs requested that the event’s name and promotional materials be revised to more clearly indicate that it was open to all students — consistent with the university’s policy that all student affinity groups and associated events are inclusive and open to the entire student body,” McClure wrote.
Barron said she considers the term “gay” all-encompassing and entirely inclusive. While the goal is to highlight a specific community, the event and the club itself have always remained open to everyone regardless of their background, she said.
“The term has never been used to exclude people, or to make people feel like it’s not for them, but instead, to, yes, uplift a certain community on campus, that’s the point,” Barron said.
Every year, people of all identities attended the formal, whether they identified themselves as straight or part of the queer community, said Steve Rouse, professor of Psychology and GSA Crossroads adviser.
“That was the plan again for this year, and the formal as we actually had it was, again, just as fully inclusive,” Rouse said. “We had a really, really large turnout, and the people who came represented an incredibly wide range of identities, yeah, and that’s exactly how it was intended.”
The History of GSA Crossroads Formal
GSA Crossroads, known then simply as Crossroads, hosted two formal-like events before COVID in 2020. But the event, now known as “Gay Formal” began in 2021. The name is meant to be descriptive of a certain group, an event for queer people to feel welcomed, Madison Thacker, Pepperdine alumna (‘20) and former GSA Crossroads vice president, said.
“It’s not new, not a trend,” Thacker said. “It’s not, not coming from high schoolers or trying to be different. It’s literally just what the event has been called for four years. I think it’s a little tongue-in-cheek. I think it’s a little campy. And I think that, speaks to the culture of Pepperdine and queerness.”
GSA creates an all-inclusive place for a one-of-a-kind community filled with wonderful people, said Hope Lockwood, Pepperdine alumna (‘23) and former GSA Crossroads president.
“Almost every wonderful thing that happened to me at Pepperdine is a byproduct of crossroads,” Lockwood said.
If students were unable to have a typical prom in the past because they were closeted, not permitted to go with who they wanted to go with or unable to express or present themselves how they choose, this formal offers them another go at the experience, Thacker said.
“It’s kind of this idea of like, let’s redo it,” Thacker said. “Let’s have it be like a kind of reparative sort of experience.”
Promoting the Event On and Off Campus
Additionally, ICA told the club they needed to change the event’s theme from “Pink Pony Club.” As a Chappell Roan song closely associated with queer culture, people could think the event was solely targeting one group, elevating them above another, something no longer permitted after Pepperdine’s implementation of the Dear Colleague letter from The Department of Education, Barron said. In response, they changed the theme to Pink Cowboy Party.
“Pink Pony Club is a queer culture thing and you can’t have anything that’s just designated for queer people because of the Dear Colleague letter,” Barron said.
In terms of online advertisements such as the club’s student-run Instagram, ICA told GSA Crossroads executive board members they could promote the event how they choose, as there are currently no policies in place regarding promotion on social media, Barron said.
Barron said the club decided to keep the formal’s original name as “Gay Formal” on all social media marketing before eventually being asked to take the original poster off of their Instagram page, per the request of administrators.
“They just didn’t like the word gay on the poster,” Barron said. “They felt like our Instagram account is like a reflection of the university.”
GSA Crossroads promotes the event on main campus. The club painted the rock using the altered name “GSA Formal.” Photo by Ava Heinert
In correspondence with ICA over the tradition of painting the rock, ICA said, the art of the event on the rock must match the title of the event on campus groups, which they changed to GSA formal, Barron said.
“It’s always been GSA formal or Crossroads formal on Campus Groups, but we’ve always put gay formal on the rock,” Barron said.
ICA offered an alternative, saying GSA could refer to the event as “Gay Straight Formal.” The club opted out of this idea, Barron said.
“Gay people are marginalized, and the, the whole point is to uplift a marginalized community,” Barron said. “So by using that word, or those two words together, you’re implying that they’re on the same playing field. And then what’s the point of having the gay formal? It’s just formal.”
Rouse said there was some confusion amongst students on GSA Crossroads E-board about what this change meant, in terms of is or is not permitted, but he was impressed with how the E-board responded to the change of plans.
“There was some ambiguity in what what the students were and were not allowed to do and say and so that was frustrating, but they handled it in a very professional and responsible,” Rouse said.
The process of changing the name and reasons for the shift have been unclear, Barron said, as nothing, is officially stated in a specific policy.
“Why aren’t we allowed to do this?” Barron said. “We need something in writing to give to people so we have, a clear consensus and like a clear story like, these are the policies and things that we need to abide by, because you are just making up things as you go.”
External Groups Show Their Support
The buzz surrounding the formal caught the attention of other communities both off and on campus. The Caruso School of Law’s OUTLaw reached out to Barron, offering to post the original poster on their Instagram page.
“They just posted the original one, which was so, so kind of them, people are very, very upset,” Barron said.
Jennifer Baker, associate director of exam processes at the Office of Student Accessibility (OSA) took part in the gathering outside of Pepperdine last Saturday, along with other members of the Pepperdine and Malibu Community at large, to show their support for the students of GSA Crossroads.
“I wanted to be fully, like, you are here, you are welcome you are loved––everyone,” Baker said. “This is a great idea. Having gay prom is a great idea.”
Supporters gather just outside of campus to cheer on the students of GSA. The group consisted of community members from Pepperdine and the greater Malibu area. Photo courtesy of Steve Rouse
She said she and others who gathered on the street off campus heard the club changed the name of the event, and felt disappointed but not surprised.
“Myself and another staff member were there,” Baker said. “But then also everybody else was from the Malibu community, and they were just so devastated and just heartbroken and saying, ‘Why? Why?’”
Barron said when she saw people standing on the side of the road cheering them on, she felt it was a testament to how deeply the community at large cares for the club.
“Other organizations care about this, people on campus care about this, people off campus care about this, obviously,” Barron said.
The Big Night
GSA Crossroads hosted its fifth annual formal Saturday, April 5 with over 86 people present, the highest recorded attendance in the history of the club and both members and non-members of GSA came to show their support. The formal included a DJ, dancing, a photo booth and a Chipotle buffet.
“There were people I have never seen before who came,” Barron said. “I thought I knew a lot of, the queer people at Pepperdine, and I just, I guess I didn’t, but there were also a lot of straight people there that were just, supporting.”
Day of, the experience couldn’t have gone smoother –– Barron said –– it was one of the most joyful Pepperdine events she had ever been a part of.
“It just felt like people needed this sort of thing, especially right now,” Barron said.
The outpouring of support from the community helped to facilitate a successful night, Barron said. The Student Government Association (SGA) donated 500 dollars to GSA Crossroads and Model UN brought desserts, all of which were gone by the end of the night.
“We didn’t order enough food,” Barron said. “We didn’t expect like 90 people to come.”
With the attendance on Saturday being so high, Rouse said it was an exciting time.
“It was vibrant and it was socially inclusive and just a fun, fun environment,” Rouse said.
Lockwood said she hopes Pepperdine will be a place where LGBTQ+ students feel loved and cared for, always, but regardless there are people cheering them on in numerous circles.
“There’s always going to be people, whether those are people that are on campus or people in an alumni network,” Lockwood said. “People that love you and who are championing you and talking about you and caring for the work that Crossroads and GSA does.”
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Email Ava Heinert: ava.heinert@pepperdine.edu
