The MSU Alliance of Lesbian-Bi-Gay-Transgendered and Straight Ally Students-sponsored welcome reception and resource fair will be at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the Kellogg Center’s Big Ten rooms.

The fair has grown tremendously since it began nine years ago, when it was held in the Union.

“This has grown so large that the Union no longer had the space to accommodate it,” said Brent Bilodeau, MSU’s assistant for LBGTA concerns. “We will fill the Kellogg Center this year with the largest number of registered groups in the history of the event.”

The fair will honor the 10th anniversary of “Moving Forward: Lesbian and Gay Men Issued By Michigan State University,” which was the 1992 university wide task force on lesbian and gay issues. The event also will feature the first “Student Solidarity Slam!” where students are invited to perform music, poetry, literature readings and dance.

“This will give MSU the chance to showcase their support and resources of LBGTA affairs,” Bilodeau said. “This is about personally welcoming new and returning students to the school.”

More than 40 organizations around Michigan will be set up at tables to offer resources about where to get involved in campus groups and statewide businesses.

Mark Redding, president of north complex’s Respecting Individuals on Neutral Ground, or RING, will be one of many LBGTA groups on hand to answer questions at the event.

“Our meetings are mainly discussion focused,” he said. “We share coming-out stories and talk about things going on in the community and in the news, but also plan social activities, watch movies and talk.”

Alliance members are looking forward to the event.

“The fair should be bigger and better than ever before,” said T.J. Jourian, the external vice chairperson of the alliance. “We’re also looking for fresh new faces. We want new students to know what LBGTA is like, and what resources we can give to them.”