Matt Lardie, Class of 2006, remembers the reactions of his friends and fraternity brothers when he came out his senior year at Elon University.

“The Elon bubble was very safe and comforting to me,” he said. “In talking with friends of mine that have gone to other universities, Elon is probably the most welcoming college to the LGBT community.”

And even after graduation, he continues to develop a home at Elon. The LGBTQIA Alumni Summit provided alumni with the opportunity to continue their relationship with the university and return to a supportive atmosphere and network, Lardie said.

[quote]We had people who had graduated in the ‘90s, and this is their first time back. They finally feel they have a place here. “We had people who had graduated in the ‘90s, and this is their first time back,” Lardie said. “They finally feel they have a place here. --Matt Lardie, Class of 2006.[/quote]

Forty-eight alumni associated with the LGBTQIA community registered to attend an alumni summit March 30 and 31 to participate in discussions regarding university advancement and how to better construct an environment supportive of the identity group.

Lardie belonged to the planning committee and talked about his experiences as an undergraduate student at Elon. His speech correlated with the theme past, present and future and shed light on what it was like to be a gay student at Elon, he said.

Conversations illuminated where the university is now and how the alumni want to improve the institution’s commitment to diversity, Lardie said.

“It’s a great community,” he said. “It’s not perfect.”

The weekend event enabled alumni and current students and administrators to share their stories and establish future goals for the university, said Darris Means, associate director of the Elon Academy and member of the Class of 2005, who worked to create the LGBTQIA Alumni Summit after participating in the Black Alumni Summit.

The summit contributes to the university’s goal to develop affinity networks designed to increase alumni engagement.

“An affinity network is the opportunity for people that may identify with that group to have a place to go to,” Means said.

According to Means, the summit accomplished the goal and effectively attracted alumni who had not demonstrated a connection to the university. For Lardie, the alumni’s return signaled Elon’s enhanced relationship with the LGBTQIA community.

“We had people who had graduated in the ‘90s, and this is their first time back,” Lardie said. “They finally feel they have a place here.”

In addition to appealing to alumni, the attendees expressed an interest in financially supporting current Elon students, Means said. Participants discussed a potential scholarship and establishing a fund enabling undergraduate students to attend leadership conferences relevant to the LGBTQIA community.

“I think through this affinity network there’s an opportunity to connect with undergraduate students and opportunities for mentorship,” Means said.

The affinity network also demonstrates there are people that can speak to students’ unique experiences, Lardie said. It demonstrates a consistent presence of a group with which students can identify, he said.