Lavender Celebration

Date: Friday, May 8

Time: 3 p.m.

Location: Center for the Arts Drama Theater

Guests and Graduates requiring accommodations: If you or a guest need special accommodations, please email us. We’d be happy to meet with you to determine your needs for the celebration. On the day of the celebration, you can visit the Guest Services kiosk in the Center for the Arts for assistance.

Contact the LGBTQ+ Center at lgbtq-center@buffalo.edu or 716-645-2339.

• You must be a registered undergraduate or graduate/professional student or a PhD candidate who will graduate in Summer 2025, Fall 2025, or Spring 2026.
• Register by Wednesday, April 22

Dress for the celebration is business attire, with the understanding that individuals may express professionalism in ways that best align with their personal or cultural expression.

Students will receive receive a pride tassel and lavender sash, which may be worn to their academic ceremony. No regalia should be worn to or during the celebration.

Blair Parker is the Head of School at Buffalo Seminary, an independent day and boarding school for college-bound girls. Now celebrating its 175th school year, SEM is the oldest school in Buffalo.

Blair’s dedication to independent school education is deep-rooted; she started her career 25 years ago at the other end of the Erie Canal as a History teacher at the Emma Willard School before moving onto another school for girls, the National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C.. She then spent over a decade in leadership roles at two all-gender schools in New York City: Riverdale Country School and Friends Seminary. As an independent school leader, she sees the most crucial work in ensuring the belonging of every student. As faculty advisor to the GLOW student club at Riverdale, she worked with students to create affinity spaces for LGBTQ+ students and faculty members that served as a model for other independent schools.

Blair is now in her second year at the helm of Buffalo Seminary. In her short time here, she has kept the school’s mission front and center while leaning into the traditions that make SEM so special. Each school day at SEM begins with a student-led morning meeting that opens with communal singing. At SEM, Blair leads a group of dynamic educators who are dedicated to ensuring each student is known and has access to the support they need to succeed academically and the confidence to shape society rather than be controlled by it. Because of the experience offered to students, in each of the past two years, Buffalo Seminary has been ranked the number one private high school in Western New York by Niche.

Blair has had the privilege of spending much of her life in schools– communities we enter in order to have conversations with those who are similar and different than us. In 2020, Blair co-authored a “Statement on Campus Discourse” for Riverdale that has been adopted by a number of independent schools. This policy reminds members of a school community why we go to school and the responsibility we share to consider the impact of our speech on the belonging of others.

Blair lives on SEM’s campus in the Elmwood Village with her partner, Beth, and their two young children. Originally from Atlanta, Blair holds a B.A. in History from the University of Virginia and a Masters’ in Independent School Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University.