What is your club about?

Spectrum is a club here on campus that promotes inclusivity and recognizes diversity in

all its beautiful forms. Our main objective is to promote inclusion and acceptance to

any and everyone regardless of race, economic status, gender identity, or sexual

orientation.

When was your club established?

Though the club has been around for over 20+ years, it was finally established as an

official Moravian club back in 2015.

Who are your current leaders?

Our current president is Matteo Montero (he/him), leading the pack with rainbow pride.

Following in suit is our vice president, Maddy Laubach (she/her), secretary, Peter Simon

(he/him), treasurer, Kaitlin Kridlo (she/her), and social media coordinator: Helen

Meckstroth (she/her).

When does your club meet?

Our club meets every Friday from 6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. at the Doghouse (located in the

lower-level of Zinzendorf)

What is the most popular activity that the campus knows you for?

Before the confines of COVID hit, Spectrum was mostly known for hosting an annual

Drag Show, which promised a night of fun, dancing, and entertainment from both local

and more well-known drag queens. Now our main event of the year is the Second

Chance dance, which gives an opportunity to those who did not feel safe or comfortable

enough to express themselves through their clothing to have a night of carefree fun,

dancing, and food. Normally hosted in the spring semester, this year’s dance was held on

Halloween weekend due to timing conflicts, but nonetheless, everyone in attendance had

a very spooky, and very gay time!

What are the biggest challenges that your club faces?

The biggest challenges that face our club is coming up with events that people will

enjoy. Because of this, our leaders created a 3-week rotation in which we spend one week

focusing on education and use our hour together to have a discussion about current

LGBTQ+ issues.

If you could pair up with another club for an event or project, who would it be?

We hope to host an event with the BSU in the future, an event which will most likely

happen, as Spectrum works extremely closely with the rest of the DEI clubs at Moravian.

To quote Spectrum’s president, Matteo Montero, “Queerness is synonymous with Black,

Asian, Latino, Indigenous, and Middle Eastern identities; it’s time we act like it on

campus.” The main reason for that statement is to show that anybody can be queer

regardless of race.

What is the latest project that your club is excited about?

Currently, there is talks of resurrecting an old event, and I for one can say that I cannot

wait to attend. Get ready to get crafty as Spectrum is hoping to host a pin-making night

where students can create whatever their heart desires on an adorable pin. Some ideas

that are already being thought of are pronoun pins, pride flag pins, or pins of your

favorite characters.

If you had an unlimited budget, what dream project would your club put it

towards?

If Spectrum were to have an unlimited budget, we would definitely start hosting concerts

full of queer icons, like Lady Gaga, Orville Peck, Mitski, Laura Jane Grace, and

Trixie Mattel. Another use we would put our new funding towards is creating queer

scholarships for those who need financial assistance.

Do you feel that Moravian University gives Spectrum the respect and resources

that they deserve after assisting in increasing the student morale?

Yes, I think Moravian does, but unfortunately, I cannot speak for the student body as a

whole. As an institution I think that Moravian is ready to help Spectrum, and they have,

but I’m not completely sold that Moravian is equipped to help all of the queer students

on campus as both individuals and communities. I say this because not all queer

students here are cis white queers; we have a diverse community on campus that

encompass both race and ability. Unfortunately, this means that Moravian hasn’t be able

to keep all students safe and well on campus, so until institution-wide changes happen,

I cannot say that Moravian has got completely covered, but as a club, we never have had

any issues getting the funding that we need or have trouble being heard by the

institution. The institution is important, but it’s really the communities of students,

faculty, and staff that keep us all safe and secure on campus.”

GO GAYHOUNDS!!