Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Alumni Association

Reaching Out

An e-Newsletter by the IU Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Alumni Association

Gay Pride!July, 2015
In This Issue
Connect with us!

   

 

 

 

   

   

             

 

 

 

We had a booth again this year at Indy Pride, one of the nation's spectacular LGBT celebrations. The weather was ideal, and we reached people from many different age groups. We signed up 52 new members! The greatest success perhaps was that we provided support to LGBT young people as they celebrated "exactly who they are." And we reminded them that they have a "home away from home" at IU and that we are one of the "top 50 LGBT-friendly universities in the nation." 

 

Consistent with President Obama's 2015 Proclamation declaring June "LGBT Pride Month," we have reason to continue to celebrate the several federal court victories, especially Friday's Supreme Court decision. We have made steady progress since Stonewall, but we need to continue to focus on our quest for full equality, and to remember that each good deed within our civil rights movement is only accomplished by building on the commitment and legacy of countless others in whose footsteps we follow. As President Obama wrote in his proclamation, "For countless young people, it is not enough to simply say it gets better; we must take action too."

.

 

        Mike Shumate, Past President

[email protected] 

  

1. Supreme Court Marriage Decision

  

Steve Sanders, IU Maurer School of Law professor and GLBTAA board member, is writing and speaking frequently about the Supreme Court's decision making same-sex marriage legal nationwide. Here is a superb piece posted on SCOTUSblog immediately following the announcement of the decision:  http://www.scotusblog.com/2015/06/symposium-sometimes-it-takes-unelected-justices-not-the-political-process-to-give-americans-the-law-they-really-want/

 

Here is one written for Fox News:  http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/06/26/gay-marriage-decision-supreme-court-validates-what-social-reality-everyday-experience-has-already-taught-most-americans.html

 

And, here is an interview with The Wall Street Journal Law Blog: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2015/06/26/gay-marriage-ruling-whats-next/

  

In the wake of the marriage decision, Steve's comments and analysis also appeared in other publications ranging from IU's Indiana Daily Student, to The Chronicle of Higher Education, to the South China Morning Post

 

2. Member Profile
Sandra Bate

  

On three campuses of Indiana University, Sandra Bate has served IU in a variety of settings, but always in a position to advance the university's agenda. When she went to work at IU South Bend as Assistant Vice Chancellor of External Affairs, Bate says she "began a very pleasant southerly migration" that moved her from IUSB to IUPUI and then to IU Bloomington.

 

Along the way, her work has focused on developing marketing strategies and messages that invite IU's alumni and friends to connect with and support the university. "When you believe in the power of higher education to impact change and improve quality of life for the world's citizens, marketing takes on a very significant role in researching, connecting, and communicating with alumni, donors, and friends," Bate says. Bate is a lifetime member of the IU Alumni Association and a GLBTAA member.

 

She retired last year as the Associate Vice President of Marketing at the IU Foundation, where she worked for 11 years. During the last three years of her Foundation appointment, she concurrently served as Chief Marketing Officer of the IU Alumni Association. "Dizzy days," she calls that time.

 

Bate's camera is close by these days. Here she is in La Gomera of the Canary Islands

At the Alumni Association, Bate lead the re-invention of the Indiana University Alumni Magazine, including a new editorial platform and a new design. "We had an incredible team on this project for more than a year, and the result was a new communications vehicle that invites readers to participate in dialogue rather than passively read a magazine."

 

The re-designed magazine fared well in competition sponsored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, but more importantly to Bate, "We made it possible for alumni to dialogue with IU by offering content that invites reader interaction and response."

 

Leading the IU Foundation's marketing team was the capstone of her IU career, Bate says. "I always told new staff that the work we did was critical for IU, and thus our marketing strategies and institutional storytelling required our absolute best efforts in planning, creativity, and implementation."

 

What occupies her today? A bit of consulting, a lot of travel and photography, and more storytelling. "Seeing new places and meeting new people ignite that creative director's spark," she says. "And before you know it, I'm jotting ideas, drawing little pictures, and scribbling notes in my omnipresent notebook."

 

Some things, she says, never change.

 

3. GLBT Office
GLBT Office Across from Dunn Meadow
 
We receive numerous requests for information about the IU GLBT Student Support Services Office ("GLBT Office") on the Bloomington campus. The Office has provided a "home away from home" and rendered critically important services to our students for 20 years. We are only too pleased to pass along information about the GLBT Office and its countless good deeds. We intend to post this and related information in future Newsletters periodically.

The GLBT Office website is: www.glbt.indiana.edu  As you move from its home page, you'll want to click on "About Us" to become acquainted with some of the amazing people, who work in the Office. Also click on "Resources" to review the various services and resources the Office and community provide on a daily basis. Next click on "Annual Reports" under "About Us", where you'll find a number of Annual Reports. Written in narrative style, you'll learn the stories of the various students, staff, faculty, alumni and parents, who have been associated with the Office over the years. The 2013 Annual Report will give you news of the latest interactions in the Office between students, faculty, staff and alumni. And, please feel free to sign up for the Office's QNews  ([email protected]),an e-newsletter that will keep you abreast of the news and activities of our community.

It's an exciting, yet still challenging, time to be advocating for LGBT issues and supporting LGBT individuals. As you peruse these web pages, feel free to e-mail
([email protected]) , call the Office (812-855-4252), or drop by and visit when you're in the neighborhood - and see first-hand the extraordinary work being performed by the GLBT Office! The coffee pot is usually on, and personnel will be delighted to share with you some of the positive energy experienced each and every day. Special thanks go to two of our heroes: Doug Bauder, Coordinator, and Jamie Bartzel, Office Supervisor!

4. GLBTAA Scholarship Campaign

  

Please continue to "spread the word" about our ground-breaking Campaign, which will help to endow our GLBTAA Scholarship Program. We awarded eight academic scholarships for the 2015 spring semester. Each recipient will be featured in one of our Newsletters. One is covered in paragraph # 8 below. After reviewing another heart-breaking story, we also awarded emergency funds to an IUB student. Since 2005, we have granted 57 scholarships (44 academic scholarships and 13 emergency scholarships) to IU students. Because of your generous support, we will be able to continue providing scholarships well into the future.  

    

Marcus A. McGhee, an academic scholarship recipient, has commented,  "It is easy for those who have gone through school never to want to look back. However, it is those who reach back and provide assistance to this campaign who allow LGBT students to position themselves alongside their classmate in the pursuit for academic excellence. This campaign is advocating for what so many hope for and that is an opportunity to help others so that we can accomplish great things together. The generosity of the donors can never be underestimated - especially in light of the financial hardships so many face today. I know I speak for all academic scholarship recipients when I say your contributions are appreciated, needed, and bestowed upon those who will continue to embody the spirit of Indiana University, its faculty, its staff and its students." Marcus is a fourth-year evening student at the IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis. 

   

Contributions can be made online at Campaign Contributions If you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to contact Mike Shumate at [email protected]  or 858-922-6105; or IUAA Alumni Relations Officer Clarence Boone at 800-824-3044. Again, heartfelt gratitude to everyone for supporting our Campaign.

 

THANK YOU, IU alumni, faculty, staff, students, allies and our many friends!

5. Student Member Note 

 

Eric N. Gonzaba, a former GLBTAA intern, is a recent recipient of theMcKinnon-Morton Fellowship. The fellowship supports George Mason history graduate students completing historical research. His project, Wearing Gay History, is a digital archive of historical t-shirts from LGBT archives across the country. The site currently includes shirts from Indianapolis, Chicago, and Washington D.C. Eric will travel to Minneapolis and Cleveland this summer to continue his digitation work and expand the archive nearly three-fold.

 

Eric is currently a doctoral student in American History at George Mason University. He received his BA in History and Political Science from IU Bloomington in 2012 and a MA in History and Women/Gender Studies from George Mason University in 2014. His research interests revolve around the cultural politics of race and gender in late 20th century America. He formerly served as the editorial assistant for the Indiana Magazine of History, one of the nation's oldest historical journals. 

 

While at IUB, he served as the Outreach Coordinator for the GLBT Student Support Services Office and interned for the GLBTAA. "Indiana University inspired me before, during, and after my time there," Eric explained, "and both the IU GLBT Office and the GLBT Alumni Association are perfect examples of how committed Hoosiers are to making the world a more positive and egalitarian place. I'm so honored to be an IU GLBT alum."

6. Did You Know?

 

 

Brian Powell

Brian Powell, the James H. Rudy Professor and Chair of the Sociology Department at the College of Arts and Sciences at IU Bloomington, has participated in research to help debunk a 2012 anti-gay marriage study. The original study concluded that adults who grew up in a household with a gay parent (or both) experienced certain negative consequences - as compared to those who were members of intact biological families. The study incited fierce debate, and three years later, Powell and another researcher have published their research results, which identify extremely questionable assumptions and elementary "data-cleaning" mistakes in the original study. When these assumptions and mistakes are accounted for, they say, the number of meaningful differences observed between adults who grew up with gay and straight parents drops to just about zero. Powell's research was recently published in Social Science Research, the same journal that published the original anti-gay study.

http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/05/biggest-anti-gay-marriage-study-was-debunked.html   And, here is IU's release republishing an article from the Bloomington Herald-Times  http://news.indiana.edu/releases/iub/iu-in-the-news/dnb-05-27-2015.shtml

 

7. Facebook

 

The GLBTAA has had a Facebook page for some time now, but some of you may not be aware of it.  If you haven't already done so, check out our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/iuglbtaa.  "Like" our page and follow our Facebook posts regarding news, updates and information about our events.

 

Like us on Facebook

8. Academic Scholarship Recipient 

   

CONGRATULATIONS are extended to Nicholas M. Rivera, one of our 2015 Spring Academic Scholarship recipients! Nick has completed his sophomore year in Bloomington pursuing a degree in Arts Management. He has aspirations to form a concert event company someday and reflects, "I have a passion for music and helping people. Generally, music can be a very shallow industry, so I want to make it something that helps a cause." Nick is a founding member of the new IUB group Students Against Intolerance and has been involved with Prism Youth Community, a support and advocacy group for LGBT youth. He is a DJ, becoming increasingly known in the Bloomington and surrounding communities. He is a Hudson and Holland Scholar and has received a federal Pell Grant. We're proud of you, Nick!  

 

9. GLBTAA Scholarships

 

GLBTAA Academic Scholarships  Academic Scholarships are awarded to IU students enrolled at any IU campus, who are academically strong, as well as active in promoting diversity, tolerance and social justice. Scholarships are awarded to students based upon academic achievement, career goals, financial need, leadership experience, community service and extracurricular activities. Involvement in activities promoting diversity and raising awareness of GLBT and related issues on the student's campus or in his or her community is carefully reviewed by the Board. The maximum award for an Academic Scholarship is $1,000 per semester. An individual student may not receive more than $2,000. The deadline for the Spring 2016 semester is November 15, 2015.

  

IU GLBTAA Emergency Scholarships
Emergency Scholarships are awarded to those students who experience the loss of financial support when they make the courageous decision to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity to their families. Emergency Scholarships help to ensure that students need not choose between their education at IU and living life openly and honestly. Emergency Scholarships are awarded to students attending any IU campus. The maximum award for an Emergency Scholarship is $1,500 per semester, and a student may not receive more than $3,000.
  
You can learn more about the GLBTAA Scholarship Program and apply online at: http://alumni.indiana.edu/affiliates/glbt/supporting-community/scholarships.html

 

10. Membership

 

Encourage your friends to join the GLBTAA. They can visit our website here  and join.  There are no membership dues, and you do not have to be a member of the IUAA, or an IU degree-holder. We are approaching 1,600 members nation-wide, and we're growing! We appreciate your continued commitment! It is because of you that the GLBTAA is in existence, continues to grow and continues to serve our important mission on all eight of IU's campuses. If you are a member and wish to continue receiving our e-Newsletters, please make sure we have a current e-mail address for you.   You can visit https://alumni.indiana.edu/my-iu/index.html to see if your official record, including your e-mail address, is current.  Thank you for your support through your membership. We look forward to serving you now and in the years to come. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Clarence Boone, Alumni Relations Officer, at: [email protected] or Mike Shumate at [email protected] .

 

If not already a member, please consider joining the IUAA by visiting https://alumni.indiana.edu/membership/index.html, by [email protected]  or calling (800) 824-3044. By joining the IUAA, among many other things, you help fund the various GLBTAA programs, along with gaining access to IUAA member-only events.

 

If you would like to unsubscribe and terminate future communications from the GLBTAA, please respond to:  [email protected].