After years of private meetings, Alphabet leaders have decided to open some of their affinity meetings to the public LGBTQ+ community at Branson. 

Alphabet, the LGBTQ+ affinity space on campus, has previously only held meetings in private locations with a closed list of members in order to protect the safety and confidentiality of its participants. This has made the space a safe haven for many students at Branson. 

However, this year Alphabet has decided to switch it up, now including public meetings for LGBTQ+-identifying students who feel comfortable attending public meetings. 

“Alphabet isn’t going fully public,” co-leader Olivia Ritter ’26 said. “We still have weekly meetings that are going to continue to be private.”

But, by going semi-public, Ritter hopes to inspire members of the LGBTQ+ community to embrace their sexuality and try something new with the affinity space. 

Ritter is a member of Alphabet and is truly passionate about making Branson a safe space for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation. 

“Alphabet is a great space for anyone who isn’t out to anyone yet,” she said. “It was a great space for me as I was coming out, but it also has the opportunity to allow people to push their comfort zone even more by going public and helping people express themselves publicly.”

When asked about the future plans of Alphabet, Olivia responded, “Our plan is to just meet once a month, like any other affinity for people, in addition to our private meetings for people who don’t want to be publicly out.”

Alphabet has historically been the only fully private affinity space, so this change is one that carries a lot of thought and meaning behind it.

“A lot of people just don’t feel comfortable publicly expressing their sexuality at Branson, and my goal is to celebrate my identity publicly and encourage people to do the same in hopes of improving the culture here at Branson,” Ritter said.