Remember when you were a freshman what it was like walking into the front of that packed class in Willard five minutes late? You felt the flourescent lights beating down. All eyes were on you. The professor paused and with just a slight upturned nose, glanced coldly in your direction. You scrambled to find a seat in a corner of the room where you wouldn't be seen. You wanted to crawl into a closet and never come out.

That might just be the only time many of us have felt like outsiders. It certainly is nothing compared to being picked on and scorned for not being part of the dominant heterosexual society. But it is a feeling of shame nonetheless. Many of us don't have to crawl into closets too often, but far too many are pushed into cramped psychological quarters. Society burdens those who "don't fit in" with the weight of the world's ridicule on their shoulders.

This week, members of the lesbian, gay and bisexual community have the chance to release that tiresome burden. It will only be a week of pride if we all open the closet doors and join together to celebrate our commnalities and differences.

Numerous programs mark the 1994 Pride Week Celebration. Full-color posters across campus advertise the scheduled events. Here's a sampling of programs slated for the week:

-- A pride rally will be held at noon today on the Schwab Auditorium Steps.

-- Quentin Crisp, author and actor appearing in the movie Philadelphia, will speak at 8 p.m. today in the HUB Assembly Room.

-- There will be a poetry reading from 8:30 to 10 p.m. tomorrow at the Daily Grind, 107 E. Beaver Ave.

-- Singers Romanovsky and Phillips will perform a free concert at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in Schwab.

-- Admission is free to a lesbian, gay and bisexual film festival from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday in the Carnegie Cinema.

Those are just a few of the many programs this week. Take the time to free yourself from whatever closet you hide in.

For more information about Pride Week and the scheduled events, call the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Student Alliance at 865-3327.