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Release Date: 
Tuesday, April 19, 2022

SAGA students install temporary pride flag display on main campus

Students install temporary pride flags on the HFC campus.
Front row (L-R): HFC students Autumn Sternberg, Nina Kinshoku, Mikela Jackson, Shardai Duckert. Back row (L-R): HFC Admissions Recruiter Kristine Rouleau, HFC Student Success Navigator Troy Gibson, and HFC student Devonta Nelson.

As part of HFC’s Campus Pride Month (April) activities, five members of HFC’s SAGA Club installed 200 pride flags (rainbow flags) outside the Reuther Liberal Arts Building (Bldg. K) in the quad area on April 11.

The display will remain in place throughout Campus Pride Month and will then be removed.

SAGA vice-president Devonta Nelson started with a brief speech. Afterward, fellow HFC SAGA students Autumn Sternberg, Nina Kinshoku, Mikela Jackson, and Shardai Duckert – along with several HFC employees – began installing the flags.

“What a beautiful day it was! It was perfect weather for planting pride flags,” said HFC Financial Aid Specialist and SAFE@HFC chair Beth Preston. “It started with a great speech from Devonta and concluded with all of us coming together for a group photo.”

“It was a privilege honoring those individuals from the past while moving forward, celebrating the LGBTQ+ culture and diversity at HFC,” said HFC Student Success Navigator and SAGA faculty advisor Troy Gibson.

HFC LBGTQ+ resources

SAFE@HFC is a campus organization of faculty and staff LGBTQ+ members and allies who are spreading awareness on campus, providing support and connecting students and employees to resources. For questions or more information, contact safe@hfcc.edu.

Founded in 2017, SAGA is HFC’s Sexuality and Gender Acceptance Club, a student-led organization whose mission is to support students in their lives as LGBTQ+ individuals and allies. HFC Student Success Navigator Troy Gibson serves as the SAGA faculty advisor. For questions or more information, contact Gibson at trgibson3@hfcc.edu.

While SAGA is solely for students, SAFE@HFC activities are open to everyone.

"I'm really proud to get to work with the students in SAGA," said HFC Admissions Recruiter Kristine Rouleau. "They inspire me, and their work on this display will show others across HFC's community that they are loved, seen, important, and celebrated."

“Our pride flag ceremony truly reflects what is best about Henry Ford College,” said Preston. “It shows students and employees from across campus coming together to celebrate the beauty that is our diversity. Our SAGA Club is filled with strong student leaders who recognize the value of all our identities and the importance of celebrating those identities. What a great way to start our Campus Pride Month celebrations!”