LGBTQ Services hosts first Pen Pal program to community
Central Michigan University's Office of LGBTQ Service created the LGBTQ Pen Pal Program to offer community during "COVID, an election year and being queer."
The program’s goal is to allow students to have that one person to go to for support and to create a friendship with.
There are currently 16 people in the program ranging from freshman to graduate students. Everyone is encouraged to join the program.
People are paired at random unless they request someone who identifies like them.
"My pal is great," pen pal senior Madison Doyle said. " she's so nice and sometimes it seems I've known her for a long time.”
Office of LGBTQ intern senior Taylor Thompson said the pen pal program is a time to come together and make a friend during a chaotic unknown time.
“I hope people gain a sense of community on campus regardless of who they are and where they come from,” Thompson said.
The program gives students a chance to go into the world and make connections virtually in groups and by pen pal mail. It offers students something to look forward to receiving and knowing someone cares about what they have to say.
"My pal and I have been texting, but also we send cards back and forth," Doyle said. "I sent a cute Halloween one with some chocolate in the envelope for the first round.”
According to the Office of LGBTQ Services, the program is meant to be a place for students to feel safe about their identities and just have someone to talk to.
“It definitely helps with my personal comfort levels that this particular one is though," Doyle said. "I don't feel like I have to come out every time I meet someone new with this idea."
