Kirkwood Pride is Kirkwood’s student group for LGBTQIA+ people and allies. We’re all about providing a positive environment and a place to share concerns. This safe, welcoming environment promotes awareness, equality, and acceptance and educates the campus community about LGBTQIA+ issues.
For more information, to get added to the mailing list, or to get the invite to the Discord group, contact us at pride@kirkwood.edu.
Group Meetings:
Iowa for Trans Folks events in Southeast Iowa
June 6-8, 2025: Capital City Pride Festival in Des Moines
June 13, 2025: Riverside Pride in Fort Madison
June 14, 2025: Benton County Pride in Vinton
June 21, 2025: Iowa City Pride
June 28, 2025: Pride on the Riverfront in Burlington
July 12, 2025: CR Pride Pride Fest at NewBo City Market
Aug. 22-23, 2025: Cedar Valley Pridefest in Waterloo
Since its founding in 1935, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa is a private, non-partisan organization that fights to advance civil liberties and uphold the Iowa and U.S. Constitutions.
The Robert Mannheimer Youth Advocacy Award is a $500 cash prize given to a young Iowan ages 14 to 19 who has demonstrated a passion and advocacy for civil liberties. The award was established by Joan Mannheimer and the family of late Des Moines attorney Robert Mannheimer who supported the ACLU of Iowa for more than 50 years as a cooperating attorney, board member, and donor.
The First Friday Breakfast Club awards scholarships to outstanding Iowa high seniors who advocate for inclusion, fight homophobia, and educate their schools and/or communities about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) issues. Academic excellence, extracurricular activities and community involvement also factor into the awards.
Scholarships are $3,000 each. The number of awards varies each year based on the number and quality of applicants and the funds available.
The mission of the Imperial Court of Iowa is to make a difference to the People of Iowa through fundraising, social consciousness, and education, one dollar at a time. ICIA offers three scholarships.
Iowa City Pride is proud to present three scholarships valued at $500 (USD). Scholarship will be awarded to the individuals who show the most need, have experienced hardship and hold passion for the future.
Named in honor of Pulse Nightclub victim Drew Leinonen, the Dru Project awards scholarships to students who exemplify Drew's spirit and desire for unity, inclusion, and love. The nonprofit organization announced in Nove,ber 2024 that it is intensifying its mission to support LGBTQ+ youth by prioritizing scholarships for those in red states. Read more here.
Since 1996, LEAGUE Foundation has awarded 220 college scholarships totaling $480,500 to self-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBTQ+) graduating US High School Students. LEAGUE Foundation scholars are selected through a multi-round process where applicants academic, community involvement, and educational goals determine LEAGUE Scholars.
Currently the LEAGUE Foundation has four awards for consideration. Each student application is automatically reviewed for each. Learn more here.
Founded in 1973, PFLAG is the nation’s largest family and ally organization. The local chapter, PFLAG Cedar Rapids, started meeting in the Fall of 2010 and was officially accepted as a chapter of PFLAG National in the Fall of 2011. Find Educational and Scholarship opportunities here.
The Philanthrofund Foundation (PFund) scholarship fund is used to provide scholarships to LGBTQ+ learners from the upper Midwest at all stages of their educations. In 2023, PFund Foundation distributed a record $132,000 to more than 50 queer students from across the upper Midwest. Learn more here.
The Point Foundation offers scholarships for students attending accredited colleges and universities in the U.S. Point scholarships support community college, undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students with additional scholarship opportunities for BIPOC students.
The Stonewall Community Foundation strengthens the LGBTQ community and Movement by making strategic, values-driven investments in dynamic organizations, projects, and leaders. This includes scholarship programs.
The following websites have created their own LGBTQ+ scholarship lists and databases.
Kirkwood easily allows you to change your preferred name and/or pronouns. To update your preferred name and/or pronoun, log into MyHub, go to the My Profile section, and use the Name and Sex edit icons. Records will be updated within 1 to 7 business days. Updating a preferred name with change your Kirkwood email address, too.
If you change your preferred name and encounter your dead name elsewhere in the system, it may be a glitch. For example, some students have found that their dead name is still presented when logging on to campus computers. If this happens to you, please contact Pride and we will get in touch with the people who can fix it.
Changing your preferred name is not the same as changing your legal name and/or "sex designation." By law, there are specific instances where Kirkwood MUST use students' legal name. See next tab for more information.
To change your LEGAL name, you'll need to complete the appropriate Name Change form. This can be done In Person at Enrollment Services or a Kirkwood Regional Center. It can also be done By Mail, but this requires a notary public.
To change your LEGAL gender (“sex designation”) on your Kirkwood student record, you must have had your legal sex designation changed by the State of Iowa or another state. If you have done this, fill out this form.
You can learn more about Kirkwood’s legal name policy in this video. Please note: the video pre-dates current procedure. The name/pronoun change is now done through MyHub, not EagleNet.
You can have your EagleCard reissued (without the usual $10 charge) to update your name or to retake your picture to reflect your current gender presentation.
Single-Occupancy Bathrooms
Kirkwood has seven single-occupancy spaces you can use. Here’s where to find them:
Green Bandana Project
The Green Bandana Project promotes a stigma-free and supportive environment. Help spread awareness of resources available for those with mental-health-related needs with training from Kirkwood's Counseling Department. After the training, participants carry a few resource cards with them and tie a green bandana on their backpack to indicate they are safe individuals to approach with mental-health-related concerns and know where to find help.
Explore the resources in our own backyard or check out national initiatives aimed at spreading awareness and equality.
Iowa LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce
Linn County Mental Health Access Center
Local Human & Civil Rights Organizations in Iowa (Iowa Civil Rights Commission)
The Quire of Eastern Iowa (LGBTQ+ choral group)
The Real Mainstream (LGBTQ affirming, BIPOC and women’s news, culture, commentary and events)
Tanager Place LGBTQ Youth Center, Cedar Rapids
How The Law Protects LGBTQ Youth (Lambda Legal)
National Center for Transgender Equality
Trans Lifeline (A peer support service run by trans people for trans and questioning callers. Call 877-565-8860 to talk to someone.)
Contact Eliot Blake with questions: pride@kirkwood.edu or 319-398-5899 ext. 5762.
Kirkwood Student Life
2nd Floor Iowa Hall