QuASA plans for upcoming semester


On Jan. 12, Queer and Ally Student Assembly hosted their spring barbecue in Alumni Park.

Catered Hawaiian barbecue awaited attendees on brightly colored tablecloths. The atmosphere was a fun and vibrant one, due to the music that blared loudly from speakers.

Rainbow colors · Banners QuASA put up in honor of National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11 still fly proudly over Trousdale Parkway. - Razan Al Marzouqi | Daily Trojan

Rainbow colors · Banners QuASA put up in honor of National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11 still fly proudly over Trousdale Parkway. – Razan Al Marzouqi | Daily Trojan

Alec White, a sophomore majoring in political science and a QuASA member, spearheaded the spring barbecue.

“QuASA is a great organization, especially for those who are not out yet. We put on events to show our support — to show that they aren’t the only ones who feel a certain way about themselves,” White said.

White’s involvement with QuASA is unique as he identifies as straight in an organization of predominantly queer and gay students.

“QuASA is here because it’s everyone. It reaches so many different kinds of identities, whether you are queer or straight. Maybe you are Latino or Jewish — we get everyone,” said Becca Grumet, executive director of QuASA.

Grumet described how her role in such an active student group on campus serves as her main inspiration.

“I love giving people what they want. Once, QuASA brought a couple of famous YouTube bloggers to campus,” Grumet said. “Seeing students shaking when meeting the stars they are obsessed with was so cool. It sounds cheesy, but it’s that feeling of making people’s dreams come true.”

According to Grumet, one of the events that are currently in the works for the semester are the Valentine’s Day Sex Carnival and a dodgeball event called Everybody’s Dodgeball.

Glenn Young, assistant director of QuASA, is looking forward to the Sex Carnival, in particular.

“The Sex Carnival is a fair that will promote safe sex and sexual awareness and awareness of different identities,” Young said. “We plan to bring in food trucks and though I don’t want to compare it to Springfest, we want to make it big like that.”

One of QuASA’s signature and most popular events is the Second Chance Prom, which will be held at The Lorenzo this year. In the past, the Second Chance Prom featured themes like “Zombies” and was held at the California Science Center.

Within the next two weeks, QuASA has planned a Rainbow Skate Night and a Welcome Back Dance.

One of the organizations under QuASA is OUTreach. Its service-oriented projects range from helping the homeless to working with LGBT senior citizens.

As QuASA and its member organizations move forward, Co-President Dawson Ray stressed improving the partnership between LGBT students and their allies.

“One thing that the USC community could do a better job of is joining the Ally Alliance group. As of right now, I feel like we have two members — the president and vice president,” Ray said. “It was started recently, but I feel like not a lot of people know about it, or those who know about it identify as queer or gay. Getting the word out about Ally Alliance would be great.”