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BY ANAGHA KRISHNAN

In print | Published March 27, 2008

Richard Sager ’73 answers the phone while he is driving a rental truck. This is something he has never done before; he informs me distractedly before apologizing several times and hanging up. When he calls later, he sounds more relaxed, since his sculptures have been picked up and he has made it safely out of the threatening vehicle. For someone who has an entire weekend named after him, Sager seems remarkably down-to-earth. This is evident in his reaction to the “actual age” of the Sager Symposium.

“Holy shit!” he says, “Has it really been 20 years?”

According to Sager, the idea for one of Swarthmore’s most well known institutions actually occurred in a very prosaic manner about 25 years ago. Heavily involved in San Diego’s queer community, Sager noticed that there were no institutions to protect queer assets in the long term. He first turned his attention to his alma mater, where the queer community was relatively young.

“I remembered that Swarthmore had a good reputation for managing its endowments, and then I noticed that although LGBT student organizations existed on campus, there were no specific funds available to them,” Sager said, “They couldn’t have visiting lecturers or anything like that.”

Sager decided to put aside a queer-centric fund for Swarthmore and got in contact with Ken Landis ’48 and Gene Lang ’38. Landis and Sager worked together and came up with the first draft of what would become the Sager fund. However, they soon became aware of one crucial problem.

“We realized that the funds were restricted,” Sager explains and then laughs, “Before any money could be dedicated, I would have to die!”

He then considered creating an annual fund. The idea took two years’ worth of cross country visits and conversations to come to fruition, but finally a Sager Fund committee was established.

At its first meeting, the committee decided to found a symposium, in the hopes that three consecutive days of queer events would create a greater impact. Once the financial plans were finalized however, Sager decided to distance himself from the process.

He explains that he wanted the committee to have independence and did not want to control the subject matter and other minutiae of the symposium. Sager is happy to offer suggestions when he is asked for them, but otherwise prefers not to interfere.

“My goal really was to help fund something that would have some lasting impact. I take no credit for the symposium. I believe significant history has been created, and [the institution] is constantly changing over the years, over time,” Sager said.

Another source of happiness for Sager is that, as time as passed, Swarthmore alums’ experiences with the symposium have inspired them and others to donate to the Sager fund.

“It makes me feel really good to see people coming together to make that happen,” he said.

Sager has attended the symposium almost every year. While he has enjoyed all the symposiums, the two that stick out in his memory are a lecture from Vito Russo, author of “The Celluloid Closet” and a speech by Dan Savage. Another exhibit that Sager remembers was a display of Artistic Responses to HIV AIDS, which elicited an emotional response.

“There are so many amazing and talented people associated with this event, and it has everything from speakers on very specific topics to many more pop culture events,” Sager said.

Sager then began discussing the more unofficial aspects of Sager weekend, such as the genderfuck party, which he also attends every year. He recounts an incident where students who published posters advertising for the party were asked to remove his name from them, for fear that he would be offended.

“The genderfuck party doesn’t have anything to do with the Sager symposium, but I think it’s great that this other great institution has my name,” Sager said, “I told them ’I’m not offended, I’m honored!’”

Sager has had his share of memorable experiences at the parties. Every year, he is inevitably accosted by a drunk student stating that they are “so grateful, man!” One year, the PAs would not allow him into the party because “they thought I was some creepy old townie or something.” Through his visits, Sager has also made friends with various Swatties over the years, and has even remained in touch with some of them after their graduation.

Every year, he is amazed by how things have changed. He remembers his own college days when there was no active queer campus presence and he himself was in the closet. Thus, he is constantly gratified to be part of such groundbreaking traditions.

“The party is a great institution, the symposium is a great institution and Swarthmore is a great institution. I am happy to be part of them all.”

Sager Symposium 2008 Schedule

Friday, March 28

4:30 p.m. – Kate Bornstein workshop: (Hicks

Mural Room) “The Gender-Free Orgasm” All workshop participants should bring a pillow and a blanket.

7 p.m. – Heather K. Love (Admissions Commons, Parrish Hall) “Giant Steps? ‘Queer’ and its Discontents”

9 p.m. – Kate Bornstein performance: (Bond Memorial Hall) “Kate Bornstein: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us”

Saturday, March 29

11 a.m. – Breakfast (Kohlberg Coffee Bar, Kohlberg Hall)

12 p.m. – Kenyon Farrow (Scheuer Room, Kohlberg Hall) “Dancing with Death: Black Queer Identities and Popular Music in the age of HIV/AIDS.”

1:30 p.m. – Gayatri Gopinath (Scheuer Room, Kohlberg Hall) “Queer Diasporas”

BREAK

3 p.m. – Lazaro Lima & Nicole Lopez (Scheuer Room, Kohlberg Hall) “Trans Nation: Queer States of Pleasure and the Boundaries of Democracy”

4:30 p.m. – excerpts from “Strange Rain” (Admissions Commons, Parrish Hall) Performance by Marian Yalini Thambynayagam & Varuni Tiruchelvam

5:30 p.m. – Sager Symposium Banquet (Tarble in Clothier – Upper Tarble)

The dinner is free and open to symposium participants and the Swarthmore community at large.

Please RSVP to sager@swarthmore.edu

10 p.m. – 2 a.m., Genderfuck Party: “Sex Through the Ages” (Olde Club, Women’s Resource Center, and Delta Upsilon Lodge)

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