Swinburne partners with Midsumma Festival
In Summary
Swinburne University of Technology is the first tertiary education provider to partner with Midsumma Festival – Victoria’s premier LGBTIQ arts and culture festival.
Swinburne Vice-Chancellor, Professor Linda Kristjanson, announced the partnership on Wednesday 7 October at Swinburne’s annual Pride Day.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for Swinburne to support the wider community and to demonstrate our commitment to promoting a culture of respect, diversity and inclusion,” Professor Kristjanson said.
Aaron Hockly, Chair of Midsumma Festival Inc. said Swinburne’s commitment to celebrating diversity and working towards creating an inclusive society is a perfect match for Midsumma.
“Our renewed vision, inspiring inclusion colourfully, represents an aspiration for not only our purpose but also the way we develop partnerships across the diverse gender and sexuality communities but also the broader Victorian community,” Mr Hockly said.
“We look forward to producing a fantastic arts and culture festival in 2016 with Swinburne’s assistance.”
Swinburne has a deep and abiding commitment to supporting the LGBTIQ community which is shown through the university’s Pride @ Swinburne Strategic Action Plan.
Earlier this year, Swinburne became the first Australian university to declare its support for marriage equality in Australia which can be read in an open letter on the university’s website.
Pride @ Swinburne Day festivities included a key note speech from Australian footballer, LGBTIQ and mental health advocate, Jason Ball as well as entertainment from Paige Phoenix, an Australian based musician and transactivist.