Current students of the College Experience were out in full-force at the first annual Rights in Reflection event held in the main office of Living Resources, Inc. These students are proud members of the Rainbow Moon Club that meets at the College of Saint Rose where the College Experience is located.
Rainbow Moon is a LGBTQA+ safe space for the students of the College Experience that was developed a year ago with the leadership of a staff member named, Gillian Friedlander. The rules of the club are the following:
- Be respectful
- No bullying
- Be true to yourself and others
- Offer your help to others who need it
- Have an open heart and be prepared to listen with it!
While these are rules for the Rainbow Moon Club, they should certainly be rules for humanity itself. The best we can do here at the College Experience is create a haven for our students who have a tapestry of differences and encourage the rest of society to follow suit by letting our students lead the way.
Some of the rights profiled by the Rainbow Moon at the event are the Right to Safe Environment by providing illustrations on what not to do in a household and photos of a poor living environment. They even had a bag of laundry lint demonstrating a hazard that all houses in the College Experience work to avoid.
They highlighted the Right to Relationships in the sense that students have the right to explore their sexuality especially if they are able to consent to romantic activity. The College Experience provides clinicians that are able to evaluate consent status to make sure students are able to safely engage in romantic relationships with the ability to advocate for themselves. The club is currently facilitated by the staff member, Taylor James.
“The Rights in Reflection” event was spearheaded by Brittany Carmel who is the Senior Manager of Quality Initiatives at Living Resources, Inc. The Rainbow Moon booth was joined by plenty of other tables promoting other rights that our individuals throughout Living Resources, Inc. enjoy such as the Right to Vote, the Right to your Money, and the Right to Education.
What comes after graduation? Many College Experience students, in fact most, choose to remain in Albany. They maintain friendships with their fellow and former graduates, form romantic partnerships, and some get married.