Grinnell Rainbow Connections

Spring 2024

Veritas et Arcus Iris

A Note from Rainbow Alumni Leadership

As Iowa emerges into spring, we reach out to welcome you to the Grinnell Rainbow Alumni (GRA), the college’s first alumni affinity group. As members and allies of various LGBTQIA+ communities, we’ve prepared a slate of engaging rainbow events both live and virtual. Please take a minute to see if you can attend a live stream of the panel: Just Talk: A Trans Related Conversation on Legislation and the Law (April 8); Lavender Brunch for graduates (April 27); and our receptions and Drag Show at Grinnell College Reunion 2024 (May 30-June 2). Our goal is to create ways for alumni to reconnect with each other and to students, and make new friends. We also hope to let people know about the queer things happening on campus (and the state of affairs in Iowa). There are no requirements or expectations of GRA members–anyone can join by sharing their email address with us (so please forward this newsletter to someone you think should be a member!). We both spent some of the best years of our lives learning, cooking, eating, making music, and playing cards at Grinnell, and we bet you can relate. No matter our generation–and we have members from every decade going back to the ‘50s!–we yearn for the deep connections we remember from those days. By joining GRA, both of us have already made new friends from Rainbow Alumni across the decades. Now more than ever, we need to strengthen and expand our chosen families. As the daffodils and squirrels start waking up in your neck of the woods, we invite you to poke your head out, too, and connect with us. We’re not sure exactly where the journey leads, but we certainly can make it together.

In solidarity,

Phoebe Lostroh ‘94 (plostroh@gmail.com)

Rick Rose ‘88 (rick.rose@yahoo.com)

Co-Chairs, Grinnell Rainbow Alumni

On behalf of the entire Steering Committee

Recent Events

  • Zoom call with multiple smiling alums and a drag queenThank you for joining us at the Virtual Drag Bingo hosted by April Showers ’21 and Rajnish Chandragupta ’22.

 

Virtual Events

In-Person Events

  • Lavender Brunch (April 27, 2024, Grinnell College, 10:30 a.m. – noon) Honoring graduating Grinnell seniors active in our community. If you will be in Grinnell April 27, and would like to represent Rainbow Alumni in person, please contact Sarah Smith-Benanti at smithben@grinnell.edu, and help welcome attendees as our newest members.
  • Grinnell College Reunion (May 30-June 2, 2024) Registration is open See which events celebrate the Rainbow. So far the 5th Year Cluster has generously included us in their Class Year fundraising. Best of all–meet your fellow Rainbow Alumni live and in person. (Remember–graduates of any year can attend.)
    • Multicultural Reception (May 30, 2024, 6:30-8:00 p.m., JRC 101) Meet fellow Rainbow Alumni, BIPOC alumni, members of the disability community, first-generation graduates, international alumni, and folks from different religious traditions for delicious food and great conversation. Co-sponsored by Rainbow Alumni.
    • Grinnell Rainbow Alumni Reception (May 31, 2024, 4:00-5:00 p.m.) Stonewall Resource Center–Younker Hall lower-level) Come meet current students, fellow Rainbow Alumni and our allies at this casual reception held in the Stonewall Resource Center, now in its 37th year. You’ll also have the chance to meet Micho Adler, Assistant Director of Intercultural Affairs, LGBTQIA+ Student Specialist. 
    • Grinnell College Reunion Drag Show (May 31, 2024, 10:00-11:30 p.m., Harris Center Concert Hall) The classes of 2014 and 2017, 2018, and 2019 are excited to present the third Grinnell College Reunion Drag Show! Come see what all the fuss is about (and bring extra dollar bills–or have your Venmo account ready). Capacity for this very popular event is limited, so please arrive early.
  • Pride Events We are considering all of the following locations pending the availability of an alum to host. If you’re interested in helping coordinate a get-together in your hometown, please contact Conner Stanfield ‘21 at stanfield@grinnell.edu.
    • Des Moines, June 7-9
    • Boston, June 8
    • Los Angeles, June 8
    • Madison, June 8
    • Iowa City, June 15
    • Portland, July 20-21
    • Denver, June 22-23
    • Chicago, June 23-24 with parade on June 30
    • San Francisco, June 29-30
    • Twin Cities, June 29-30
    • Seattle, June 30
    • New York City, June 30
    • Tucson, October 5
    • Phoenix, Oct. 19-20
    • Grinnell, TBD!!

Meet a Member

Please meet Grinnell Rainbow Alumni member Elizabeth Wiley (or just “Wiley”), an English major from the class of 1979. Wiley recently retired as co-owner and chef of Meadowlark Restaurant, and the Wheat Penny Oven and Bar, both in Dayton, Ohio. In this interview, lightly edited, we gain insight into her time at Grinnell and beyond. 

Hi Wiley! Thanks for being our inaugural interview. Can you tell a bit about yourself and your time at Grinnell College?

I grew up in the Kansas City area, on the Kansas side. I was the oldest child, and both my parents worked–I was an unabashed tomboy. I came to Grinnell not knowing anyone. I wasn’t all that passionate about academics, but maintained a B average. I worked on theater productions, played basketball and worked at the campus beer bar, The Pub. I stayed during the summers, working on a construction crew and hitchhiking east on I-80 to Deep River every morning. Later I learned how to wait tables downtown at JD’s Restaurant, and worked as a cook out by the highway at a restaurant called The Silhouette, until it was destroyed by a tornado one summer. My focus during the school year was reading and writing for my courses, having a part-time job and my friendships. 

How would you describe your identity on the LGBTIA+ spectrum during your time at Grinnell? 

I identify as lesbian.

What was the overall atmosphere like at Grinnell while you were there? Were you involved in any campus organizations at the time?

For me, the atmosphere at Grinnell in the mid-to-late 70s was just what I was looking for—a small town and college that fostered independence and figuring out life. You didn’t need a car—you could walk all over town and for miles along the railroad tracks. I didn’t have a whole lot of close interaction with faculty, staff or other adults. I hung out with my friends, a lot of whom were Dead Heads, hippies, and arts people who were equal parts fun and responsible. Many were part of off-campus collective households, and had a sense of adventure and camaraderie I could really identify with. 

Can you share any memorable LGBTQIA-related memories or experiences during your time at Grinnell? How did your time at Grinnell shape your personal growth or identity?

When I came to Grinnell in 1975, I was not out to my parents, nor my high school friends. I was only beginning to see myself as a gay person. It wasn’t an identity I was at all familiar with. When I was a junior, I remember hearing lesbian-oriented women’s music on KDIC one afternoon when I was home alone, and thinking, “whoa—what is this?” Lesbian friends who entered 1-3 years after I did were more gay-identified, and being around them is how I began to understand myself. The LGBT community all across the country was going through similar self-discovery, perhaps the first generation to view being queer in a positive light.

How have your experiences at Grinnell influenced your life and career after graduation? 

I had two lesbian friends who were as on-fire about cooking as I was. We would cook at each other’s apartments and host dinner parties in the private dining rooms at the Forum for friends. We would get cooking jobs during the summer. We all high-tailed it to San Francisco and became line cooks after graduation, being drawn by the cooking revolution and the gay revolution that were going on simultaneously in California in the early 80s. We went on to progress in the restaurant business, eventually owning restaurants of our own. One of those friends is still my best friend, as well as my business partner in our two restaurants in Dayton, Ohio. She and I set up an endowed scholarship for Grinnell students, to commemorate our friendship’s beginning there. We keep in touch with our other friend, who owns multiple restaurants in the Washington, D.C. area. Our friendship and shared enthusiasm for the culinary world while at Grinnell reinforced our determination to become chefs and propelled us toward successful careers. 

Have you been involved in any LGBTQIA+ organizations since leaving Grinnell?

I have not been involved in any LGBT organizations per se, but as very visibly out chefs and restaurateurs in Ohio, we stand as a positive example for our community. From Sunday tea dances celebrating LGBT seniors to Pride Brunches and drag events in June, we fly the rainbow flag every day of the year outside our front door. We are a small restaurant company with 90 employees, and provide a safe and invigorating place to work, grow, and gain confidence especially for LGBTQIA+ young people, from kitchen skill development to floor staff to managers.  

How do you hope your experiences and contributions as a queer alum will continue to shape the future of Grinnell?

I just hope to be a good example and speak up for queer students and alumni as a member of the Grinnell Rainbow Alumni. I am honored to be one of the many that help Grinnell be what it is and do what it does.

What You Can Do Right Now
Looking for ways to get involved with Rainbow Alumni and help Grinnell? Here are a few suggestions:

  • Forward this email to a friend! Know someone who should get this newsletter and join the Rainbow Alumni? Forward it to them to help us spread the word.  
  • Volunteer! Have some fun and make new friends with Grinnellians from across the decades! Take the volunteer survey here. Committees looking for participants include Networking and Storytelling; Events; Outreach; Communications; and Fundraising.
  • Donate to support students!  We are currently focused on fully funding the Grinnell Rainbow Alumni Scholarship Fund by the end of June. Use the pull-down menu to support the fund of your choice. Also–think of us during Scarlet and Give Back Day!! Type “Rainbow” in the ‘Make your selection(s)’ box on the donation webpage.
  • Come to our next event. Reconnect to Grinnellians in your area or online. Many regional events will take place during Pride Month in your area. Stay tuned for more information. 

Did a friend forward this email to you? Sign up as a member of the Grinnell Rainbow Alumni by submitting your email address here.