Davis is Burning, But It's For A Good Cause!

Integral to every Point Foundation Scholarship is a Community Service Project that seeks to creates a platform for scholars to collaborate with and to better serve the broader LGBTQIA community locally, nationally, or even internationally. Community Service Projects vary annually in size and concept, but the key aspect of helping the community always remains salient.

For my Community Service Project this year, I helped plan and facilitate a drag show, the proceeds from which benefited the Trevor Project, a national suicide hotline for LGBTQIA youth. The show, known as "Davis is Burning," is an annual University of California Davis event put on by the brothers of Delta Lambda Phi, Xi Chapter, the social fraternity for gay, bisexual and progressive men. "Davis is Burning" has been hosted by DLP for the past 25 years and has quickly become the largest drag show in Northern California.

This year "Davis is Burning" highlighted performers from Sacramento, San Francisco, Long Beach, as well as a variety of local collegiate groups. The show featured a Greek “Haus of Xi” theme and performances to music by Lady Gaga, SIA, and Ariana Grande. Additionally, the show this year completely sold out to a crowd of over 500 attendees.

Point Scholar Valentin takes a moment for a selfie at "Davis is Burning."

As part of the show, I co-hosted the mini-drag competition for members of the audience and performed in two group numbers to Chicago’s “Cell Block Tango” and Beyoncé’s “End of Time” (video here!). Behind the scenes, I served as a Creative Director and helped finalize themes, drag performances, and effectively produced much of the pre-show visual publicity and advertisement. In accordance with the 25th anniversary of "Davis is Burning," the show was truly amazing in that it drew upon and celebrated the many different communities here at UC Davis in addition to raising awareness and money the Trevor Project.

To learn more about "Davis is Burning" or keep in touch for next year you can visit us on Facebook!

This post was written by Point Scholar Valentin Sierra

Born in to a small family of migrant farm works and raised by a single mother, Valentin attends UC Davis as a first generation college student where he hopes to continue the fight for equality and social justice. Learn more about Valentin here.