In 1995, Ronni Sanlo, at the time the Director of the University of Michigan’s Office of LGBT Affairs, designed the first Lavender Graduation, an event specifically for LGBT and ally students. Lavender Graduation has since become an annual ceremony conducted on numerous campuses to honor lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and ally students and to acknowledge their achievements and contributions to the University. Graduating students, including undergraduates, graduates, and professional students, are invited to take part in Lavender Graduation, which occurs each year in conjunction with university-wide commencement events.

Lavender Graduation is a celebration of achievement for the University’s LGBTQ, Ally and similarly-identified students. Undergraduate, Graduate and pre-/Professional graduates may participate. LavGrad, at its foundation, celebrates the achievements of the graduate through the lens of their identity across the spectrum of gender identity, gender expression and/or sexual orientation.

For some students, the University of Michigan was the first place they explored and grew in their LGBTQ identities. For some students, U-M was the place their personal passions met their academic pursuits. No matter what the case – LavGrad is designed to celebrate achievement and identity.

LavGrad also serves as a powerful reminder that LGBTQ and Ally students live OUT, productive, healthy and engaged lives, often doing so in the face of adversity inside and outside the classroom. In this way, LavGrad bolsters the resilience of graduates as they move forward and current students as they progress.

Lavender is important to LGBT history. It is a combination of the pink triangle that gay men were forced to wear in concentration camps and the black triangle designating lesbians as political prisoners in Nazi Germany. The LGBT civil rights movement took these symbols of hatred and combined them to make symbols and color of pride and community.