Signature Events
The Cultural Center hosts large-scale social events celebrating milestones and significant events in our communities. Read more about our Signature Events below.
Homecoming OUT
This event is usually a co-sponsored partnership with DU’s Queer Student Alliance (QSA). The event welcomes all students of all genders and sexualities to be within community and support of one another. Local drag performers are invited to put on a show along with appetizers, a live DJ and other social engagements. Everyone is welcome!
Día de los Muertos
Celebrating Día de los Muertos (DDLM) became a Cultural Center Tradition in the Fall of 2019. Our TCC team pulls together a subcommittee of dedicated students and staff to host a one-day celebration for DU students, families, and larger community to come together over food, drink, performances, and festivities. The Multicultural Greek Council, The Latine Student Alliance and other student groups collaborate to make a community ofrenda (alter) to create space to honor the lives and memories of loved ones, role models, and important ancestors who have passed. Participants are able to add to the ofrenda during the event. DDLM also brings in sugar skull painting, face painting, and performances by local Denver cultural organizations. Everyone is welcome!
Pride Prom
All students are welcome to relive and/or enjoy for the first time - a fabulous prom experience with Pride Prom during Spring quarter! For sexually and gender diverse communities, prom may have been an experience they missed out on or been excluded from in their youth because they did not feel safe bringing a same-sex partner or were not able to experience them with the gender identity they now hold. This event gives all students of all genders and sexualities the opportunity to experience the Prom they deserve. The dance typically features themed decorations, local performers and a live DJ. Everyone is welcome!
Lavender Graduation
This special commencement ceremony is an opportunity for The Cultural Center to celebrate all students of all genders and sexualities. Students who are graduating are bestowed a special stole to wear for the larger graduation ceremony. Registration to participate is open to all graduating students in the DU community. Stay involved as alumni through our Pride Alumni Group and/or other alumni groups.
The tradition of Lavender Graduation began at the University of Michigan in 1995 with just three graduates. Dr. Ronni Sanlo, then Director of the University of Michigan LGBT Campus Resource Center, coordinated the first Lavender Graduation in order to acknowledge the achievements of LGBTQ graduates. By 2001, over 45 institutions held Lavender Graduation Ceremonies and the tradition continues to expand to additional colleges and universities across the country. The color lavender plays a historic role in LGBTQ history and in the community. It is a combination of the colors pink and black, which were once used to identify and discriminate against gays and lesbians. The LGBTQ community has reclaimed lavender as symbol of pride and community. (History retrieved from Georgetown University's LGBTQ Resource Center linked here).
Profiles of Excellence
A DU tradition, Profiles of Excellence is a ceremony that marks a momentous occasion as it commemorates the journey for students. This event that takes place every year before Commencement and is open to all graduating undergraduate, graduate, and law students, families, and members of the DU community (faculty, staff, and peers). One tradition of the ceremony is that TCC orders culturally relevant stoles for graduates to receive for free during the ceremony. In 2022, the DU Bookstore loved the stoles the TCC had found, that they also ordered stoles they sold to the campus community. TCC will continue to offer the stoles for free during Profiles of Excellence.