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The GLBTAA Board extends best wishes to you and your families for a safe and enjoyable summer. We hope you can join in one or more of the many events across the nation celebrating 2016 PRIDE! As stated in President Obama's Proclamation of June as LGBT Pride Month, "as Americans wave their flags of pride high and march boldly forward in parades and demonstrations, let us celebrate how far we have come and reaffirm our steadfast belief in the equal dignity of all Americans."
On a somber note, J Thomas Forbes, Chief Executive Officer of the IU Alumni Association, has issued a statement regarding Orlando for publication. His comments are in paragraph #1 below. We appreciate his expression of support and sympathy and words of reason during our anguish.
Mike Shumate, Past President
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1. IU Alumni Association Statement
The tragedies in Orlando leave each of us feeling vulnerable. Our hearts go out to the victims and their family members. We struggle to make sense and understand why innocent people were attacked so viciously. We seek a sense of order and security, especially when we are part of a community so directly hurt by this tragedy.
Each of us can do something to respond to Orlando and other tragic events. Now is a time for aiding in the recovery, not contributing hype, hyperbole, and hysteria.
As Suzy Kassem writes, "Through understanding, people will be able to see their similarities before differences."
We all can agree that hate and terror must not prevail. It is a time for peacemakers.
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| | JT. Forbes |
Acting as peacemakers, we each can make a difference:
Arm yourself with facts. Take time to listen to others and seek information from credible sources, both familiar and new to you. Focus on what you need to know and challenge what you believe. You are in a better position to help others if you have explored all facets of the issues raised by this tragedy and the all too many others like it.
Take a break from social media to foster interpersonal, social networks, both familiar and new to you. The nature of social media makes the flood of responses to incidents like this overwhelming. Foster dialogue, listening eloquently to others to gain a deeper understanding of what can be done to overcome this dark moment in history. We all can gain a deeper understanding of the path forward by going face-to-face rather than face-to-screen.
Take care of yourself. Orlando is a deeply personal tragedy to all members and allies of the LGBTQ community. It is important to express and process the rush of emotions with friends and loved ones. Find an outlet for anxiety, worry, and the other distressing feelings you likely are experiencing. By all means, seek professional help for yourself or others if this triggers mental health struggles.
Support solutions. Our response to horrific acts is a truer test of the character of a community and country than the incident itself. Let our response be distinguished by care and concern for the victims and their families. By working within our individual circles of connection and influence, we can lead our friends and loved ones toward peaceful solutions to the root causes of such mayhem.
Dr. Martin Luther King once said "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
As our nation struggles to make sense of these senseless acts, let's act as beacons of tolerance and understanding. By firing up lamps of learning and understanding, we can light the way. In a spirit of reflection and renewal, we can bring diverse and divergent people together to drive out the dark spirits lurking in the corners of our minds.
In so doing, we honor the memory of the victims of the Orlando massacre and provide an alternative to hate and terror: love and understanding.
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2. IUB Gender Studies
It's a true pleasure to be featured in this newsletter, both on my own behalf and as the chairperson of the Department of Gender Studies at IU in Bloomington. I have just finished my first year as chair, and it has been an experience of great surprises and many rewards.
As with many departments in the country, we started as a program in Women's Studies in the 1970s, which, in turn, morphed into a program in Gender Studies and then a full-fledged academic department. In 2006, we were the first university in the country to offer the PhD in Gender Studies, and we are now one of 20 different research-one (R1) institutions offering doctoral training in gender and sexuality studies. The department is made distinctive by its commitments to interdisciplinarity and cutting-edge research. The department boasts a wealth of intellectual riches, with specializations in science and sexology, gay histories and queer theory, critical race theory, anthropology, history, transnational feminism, feminist science studies, and feminist media culture.
My own work is in cultural and media studies and their relation to gender, race, sexuality, and class. My first book, Makeover TV, came about because I was fascinated by reality television and shows, such as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and What Not to Wear that featured narratives about the changing and changeable body, imperatives for change, and social punishments for a resistance to forcing the body (though exercise, weight loss, surgery, etc.) into some approximation of prevailing ideals. My second book, Women and Literary Celebrity in the Nineteenth Century, asks how celebrity can be a leveraging tool to effect social change when the holders of such celebrity, namely women (both black and white, both elite and working class), are charged with being submissive helpmeets and invisible laborers. My next book, Latter-day Screens: Gender, Modernity, and Mediated Mormonism, takes a huge step into new terrain for me, as I consider one of the most-American of religions, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, using the idea of the faith, or Mormons as Memes, as a lens for thinking through public debates about gender, sexuality, normativity, and progress.
All of us in Gender Studies at IUB are dedicated to bringing about gender justice, and it is both my honor and privilege to serve at the helm of such a dynamic group of scholars and friends.
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| | Dr. Weber at IU Gender Studies Colloquium Series |
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3. Match.com LGBTQ Survey
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Justin Garcia, PhD, Assistant Professor at IU's Department of Gender Studies, Research Scientist at the Kinsey Institute, Co-chair of the Interdepartmental Graduate Committee on Human Sexuality, and scientific advisor to the dating service Match.com, participated in Match's first survey specifically focused on LGBTQ singles in the U.S. The results were released in May in celebration of this year's Pride.
http://www.singlesinamerica.com/ Match believes this survey is the largest nationally-representative study of singles who identify as LGBTQ. Among other findings in the survey, which polled over 1,000 LGBTQ singles between the ages of 18 and 70-plus, 74 percent said their families would support them in a same-sex marriage, and 52 percent of lesbians said they want children, compared to 36 percent of gay men. http://www.singlesinamerica.com/#lgbtq
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| | Justin Garcia, PhD |
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4. New GLBTAA Directors
We are pleased to announce the recent election of the following two directors to our GLBTAA Board for a three-year term each, effective July 1. Congratulations and welcome aboard, Sarah and Stephanie!
Sarah Perfetti received her BA, cum laude, from Florida International University (International Relations) in 2007 and her MPA from IU's School of Public and Environmental Affairs (Nonprofit Management and Policy Analysis) in Bloomington in 2011. Upon completing her master's, Sarah worked three years as project associate for IU's Equity Project, which is a consortium of projects dedicated to providing high-quality data to educational decision-makers to address issues regarding educational equity to bridge the gap between research and practice.
Sarah has been integrally involved in a wide range of LGBTQ activities in Bloomington and beyond. She is a co-founder, along with her spouse Abby Perfetti, and serves as the Executive Director of Bloomington PRIDE, a nonprofit serving the LGBTQ community in South Central Indiana with a youth program, film festival, and a summer festival. She has served on the Board of the Monroe County Humane Association. She also volunteered as the Development Coordinator of the Indiana Youth Group. While competing her master's degree, Sarah served as Vice President of the SPEA Nonprofit Management Association, Vice President of the AmeriCorps Alumni Association, and was a member of the New Philanthropists Giving Circle.
Stephanie A. Sanders, PhD, is a Provost Professor of Gender Studies at IU Bloomington. Effective July 1, she will hold the Peg Brand Chair in the Department of Gender Studies. She is a Senior Scientist at the Kinsey Institute. She has been a faculty member at IU for over 30 years and has served as interim director of the Kinsey Institute three times. Her research addresses sexual behavior; sexual health; sexuality, sexual identity and gender relations; sex differentiation; gender difference in psychological and physical development; effects of prenatal hormones and drugs on human development; women's health and well-being, menstruation, menopause and the life cycle; and bio-psychological perspectives on debates in feminist theory. She has served as president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, the oldest professional society dedicated to the advancement of knowledge about sexuality. She was awarded the society's Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award in 2007 and received its Distinguished Service Award in 2014. She has been a principal or co-principal investigator on research grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse; the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; and the National Institute of Mental Health and has been a core faculty member conducting a number of national surveys including the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior.
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5. GLBTAA Scholarship Campaign
Please continue to "spread the word" about our ground-breaking Campaign, which will help endow our GLBTAA Scholarship Program. We awarded four academic scholarship for the 2016 spring semester. Each recipient will be featured in one of our Newsletters. Our last recipient is featured in paragraph #6 below. After reviewing two more heart-breaking stories, we also recently awarded emergency funds to an IU East student and an IU Bloomington student. Since 2005, we have granted 69 scholarships (53 academic scholarships and 16 emergency scholarships) to IU students. Because of your generous support, we will be able to continue providing scholarships well into the future.
 Doug Bauder, Director of IUB's GLBT Office, has commented recently about our Scholarship Campaign, "The Scholarship Campaign will provide a number of students in need with financial support and a number of alumni and friends with the joy and satisfaction that come from giving."
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!
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6. Academic Scholarship Recipient
Congratulations are extended to Ryan J. Batsie, one of our 2016 Spring Academic Scholarship recipients! Ryan is working toward his PhD in Literacy Education in the Department of Literacy, Culture & Language Education in the School of Education at IU Bloomington. He received his Master's in Literacy Education from IUB in 2012. His GPA is 4.0. He has taught secondary language arts for thirteen years in Indiana and currently teaches at the Zionsville West Middle School. As an educator, Ryan shares his own story with students and parents and believes one of the strongest ways to change peoples' minds about sexual orientation is simply to be honest about one's own. Ryan and his partner Jason have been together for eleven years, and they share a home in Fishers. One day, Ryan aspires to create partnerships between universities and secondary schools where professors teach in the public school classroom. Ryan explains, "this way, undergraduate and graduate education students can work with a professor who still teaches in the classroom on a routine basis." We're proud of you, Ryan!
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7. Member Notes
Warmest congratulations to our four members:
Nancy Kalina recently received the IU Alumni Association Gertrude Rich Award, which honors the memory of the beloved wife of Claude Rich who was chief executive of the IUAA from 1948-1968. This award recognizes an individual who is not necessarily an IU graduate, but who has connected with Indiana University through a spouse or partner and has also chosen to volunteer tirelessly on behalf of the IUAA. Nancy is a certified Martha Beck Life Coach. She was recognized for all of her time, energy and efforts that she devoted to the IU GLBTAA when she was an active board member and vice president. Her contributions helped lay the foundation for our endowed Scholarship Program, as well as the success that the GLBTAA has had during our proud 19-year legacy.
Wayne Levinson, BS (Accounting) '13, Kelley School of Business, has been featured in two recent Pugent Sound Business Journal articles. One article lists the top five businesses in revenues in the Pugent Sound area, with at least 51 percent LGBTQ ownership. Levinson's start-up company, Bulk FR8 LLC placed fifth on the list with $7.8 million in revenues and is entirely owned by Levinson. He founded Bulk FR8 in 2011. The company connects clients to a trusted pool of carriers with access to more than 50,000 tank trucks and containers. Trucking is a conservative industry, but Bulk FR8 hasn't experienced any fallout from being an LGBTQ-owned business, Levinson said. While the company doesn't focus on identifying as an LGBTQ-owned business, it also doesn't shy away from it, he said. "We are proud to be, as the GSBA (Greater Seattle Business Association) puts it, 'gay truckers,' but really what it comes down to is we have a group of individuals who come together every day and who fight on the same team regardless of sexuality," he said.
Daniel M. Maxwell recently received the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators James E. Scott Award at the NASPA summer symposium in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. This Award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to student affairs and demonstrated expertise in establishing a campus environment that encourages student learning and personal development. Recipients of this award are celebrated for their role in contributing to the development of innovative and responsive services and programs that address the ever-changing needs of students. Dan has been Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Houston since 2012. Dan also recently participated in the graduate commencement and hooding ceremony for his EdD in Higher Education and Student Affairs at IU. He anticipates defending his dissertation in late June/early July, 2016. His dissertation is entitled, "Student Union Transformation: A Case Study on Creating Purposeful Space."
IU Maurer law professor and GLBTAA Board member Steve Sanders recently was interviewed by the Christian Science Monitor on the political and cultural evolution of transgender rights
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8. 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.
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9. Spencer Pride
We had a booth for the first time at the Spencer Pride Festival, known as "the largest rural LGBTQ gathering in the state." We reached people from many different age groups, and we signed up new members! The greatest success perhaps was that we provided support to LGBTQ 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 25 LGBT-friendly universities in the nation."
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10. 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 Fall 2016 semester is April 15, 2016.
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.
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11. 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].
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