Today, Campus Pride is highlighting our 2011 Voice & Action National Leadership Award winners. Congrats to both JeShawna and Samuel! (Click here to meet JeShawna.)

Samuel Brinton

Kansas State University
Class of 2011
Program of Study: Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering & Vocal Music Performance, Minor in Chinese
Intended Profession: International Nuclear Energy Policy and Law
Age: 23
Home: Manhattan, KS

“I can't believe they chose ME! I'm from KANSAS! They think I made a difference. I AM going to make a difference in this world. For a conservative university in the middle of Kansas, Kansas State University sure gave me the perfect chance to learn who I was - no matter who that was. A few years ago, I thought I was the only gay man on earth. With this Voice and Action Leadership Award, I will keep working to make sure no student ever feels that alone again.” ~ Samuel Brinton

Samuel Brinton is currently a senior at Kansas State University studying Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering & Vocal Music Performance expecting his Bachelor of Science & Bachelor of Arts in May 2011. Sam also minors in Chinese Language.

At, Kansas State, Samuel is not only a passionate change agent for the LGBTQ communities on campus he is also a proven scholar in the field of Nuclear Engineering – 7 publications so far & counting! Samuel grew up as a missionary child living in such exciting locations as the Amazon jungle. He continued his international experience studying at Shanghai University during the Fall 2009 semester and attending international conferences of nuclear engineering in Japan, Belgium, Switzerland and South Africa.

When Samuel is state-side he continues his passion for LGBT equality through his progressive fraternity Delta Lambda Phi and serving with the local Flint Hills Human Rights Project and PFLAG. His peers recognized his passion and leadership by supporting Samuel as the President of LGBT and Allies of Kansas State. In addition (even though we know gay men are banned from giving blood) Samuel was active in the Red Cross Club as the Public Relations Director and through his leadership he assisted the organization to set records in blood donations.

One interesting fact about Samuel – he toured Europe as one of the top five high school singers in the United States.

However, to understand how his two passions of Nuclear Weapon Non-Proliferation and LGBT Equality come together one must read his story. The Committee began to learn his story by reading his cover letter, of which an excerpt is below.

“As a senior in Nuclear Engineering and Music, my life has always been one of balance and combination. I have used my engineering talents of organization to grow an organization (LGBT and Allies) from birth to over 30 members in a very conservative and religious community. I have used my musical passion for creativity to organize the Alternative2 Spring Break for LGBT and allied students to be able to serve their community regardless of orientation.

“I grew up as the son of Southern Baptist missionaries and without knowing what the word “gay” was (we just called them abominations) I asked my father why I was feeling attracted to my best friend, Dale. I don’t remember the second punch but I do remember waking up in the emergency room for the third time asking the doctors not to send me back and telling them that I had not fallen down the stairs again. When “punching the gay out” didn’t work we moved to conversion therapy. Being told I had AIDS and was going to die if the government found me was only the beginning. I would be strapped down with blocks of ice or heating pads placed on my hands while pictures of men holding hands were shown. The conversion ended when I told my parents I was straight to stop the electrocution by needles in my fingers while gay sex acts where shown to me. When I would later come back out to them for a second time I was told never to walk back in that house if I wanted to walk out alive.

“I tell you the story of my conversion therapy not for dramatic effect but to explain why I do what I do. I cannot let another child go through that torture because their parents think this is the only way to have a normal child. I will keep working through my political means until someday, when a student turns on the television, they will see a man just like them speaking to the United States Senate with a bright pink scarf on.”

Samuel, we are impressed with your courage and determination to create a better world for LGBT Youth.

Learn more about Samuel: www.campuspride.org/voiceandactionsamuelbrinton.asp

Campus Pride announces their 2011 National Voice & Action awardees: JeShawna Wholley (Spellman College), Samuel Brinton (Kansas State University)

(Charlotte, N.C.) – In a time when suicide by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth has become so prominent and visible an issue in the media, it is critically important to highlight, recognize and encourage LGBT youth who are making a difference, creating positive change and making it better for others – that’s why Campus Pride, a national, nonprofit organization for student leaders and campus organizations working to create safer, more LGBT-friendly colleges and universities, is proud to announce this year’s Voice & Action National Leadership Awards.

In partnership with Ernst & Young & OUTmedia, the Campus Pride Voice and Action National Leadership Award is an honorary recognition highlighting the outstanding accomplishments of young adult leaders at colleges and universities across the United States. The award is the only honor of its kind, focused on the work of undergraduate college students who are creating positive change for LGBT and ally issues within their campus communities, local communities and region of the country. The award is bestowed upon individuals who use their “voice” to speak up and take “action” to make a difference. The award also acknowledges the vital role nationally that young adult leaders play in the present and for the future of our movement for LGBT fairness and equality.

Campus Pride congratulates this year’s winners:

JeShawna Wholley, senior at Spelman College, majoring in Comparative Women's Studies, current President of Afrekete and the Project Coordinator at Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance.

Samuel Brinton, senior at Kansas State University, doubling majoring with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with Nuclear Engineering Option & B.A. in Vocal Music Performance, Founding Leader of the Global Zero Chapter at KSU and current President of LGBT and Allies group.

Wholley and Brinton will receive their award at an upcoming regional LGBT and ally college conference of their choice in either the Midwest, Northeast, Northwest or West Coast region. Along with free conference registration, the recipient receives a free OUTmedia artist/entertainer to bring to campus in 2011.

“JeShawna and Samuel represent a growing community of LGBT young adult leaders stepping up to shape their schools, communities, nation and their futures in positive ways -- simply by being who they are, acting bravely,” said Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride. “We are proud to name these Voice and Action Award recipients and feel confident in their future endeavors -- indeed they are already changing the world.”

Over 40 applicants were considered for this year’s honor. In addition to Wholley and Brinton, Campus Pride will also honor several award applicants as Top 12 Leaders in Action. This year’s awards committee was comprised of Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride; Chris Bylone, Campus Pride volunteer and Voice & Action Award coordinator/chair; Members of the Campus Pride Youth Advisory Board; Shelly Weiss of OUTMedia; Staff Members of Ernst & Young; Dave Reynolds of The Trevor Project; and Vince Garcia of The Point Foundation.

To learn more about the national awards program and individual recipients, visit www.CampusPride.org/voiceandaction.asp or email info@campuspride.org.

Now that President Barack Obama has signed a repeal to the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy, and as implementation of repeal proceeds forward in the next year, how should colleges prepare?  As a former U.S. Army officer commissioned through ROTC (and very proud of both), I tried to put myself back in time to think about what I might have needed had this repeal occurred during my college/ROTC years.

The Department of Defense (DOD) December 2010 report on DADT repeal implementation pays little attention to how colleges should prepare for the DADT repeal and the impacts on ROTC programs and cadets at civilian colleges.  Although ROTC programs were mentioned briefly in parts of the report, e.g., repeal would not likely increase ROTC candidate numbers or recruiters’ access to college campuses, there are no clear implementation steps for college administrators to follow in that report.  Leaders at universities will need to create their own implementation plans to ensure a smooth a transition on campus post-repeal.

Recommendations to College and University Leaders

The impact to colleges and universities will depend on campus leadership.  Following are some tips on how college leaders (at institutions with or without ROTC programs) might begin to plan for any impacts following the President signing the DADT repeal into law.  This list is not intended to be exhaustive, but offers some “action steps” that administrators and student leaders can think about as repeal becomes a reality.

Read the recommendations, after the jump...

“Current federal policy of excluding known lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals from admission to ROTC or of discharging them from service is inconsistent with Harvard’s values as stated in its policy on discrimination.”

Harvard’s official policy regarding the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program states that the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) doctrine of excluding openly LGBT servicemen conflicts with the university’s discrimination policy, forcing Harvard to prohibit ROTC from active participation on campus. Last year, the Harvard Republican Club sponsored a campus-wide survey in which 62% of the student body supported reversing the ROTC policy; the survey sparked massive protest within the QSA, many of whom claimed that ROTC programs were not only non-inclusive of the openly queer, but detrimental to queer rights movements on campus. However, exiling ROTC from the Harvard campus is more punitive and deleterious to the queer community than the DADT policy, denying queer and queer-friendly students a critical on-campus scholarship and career program.