Campus Pride hosted fourth annual LGBT & Ally Summer Leadership Camp, July 20-25, 2010 at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN
National LGBT & ally college nonprofit recognizes Keissling of National Center for Transgender Equality with national leadership award as well as Driscoll, Topping, Barth, Thomison, Burks, D’Allaird, Graving, Brown & Feldman with “Campys” for distinguished volunteer service

(Charlotte, NC) -- Campus Pride hosted its fourth annual Campus Pride Summer Leadership Camp from July 20-25, 2010 on the campus of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. The camp is the only one of its kind geared toward mobilizing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and ally student leaders from colleges and universities across the United States.

Nearly sixty college student leaders attended the five day camp from over thirty-five colleges and universities. Featured camp keynotes included Campus Pride founder/executive director Shane Windmeyer as well as Mara Keissling from the National Center for Transgender Equality, Dr. John Corvino of Wayne State University and writer of 365gay.com, out gay athlete Brian Sims who is also on the board chair of EqualityPA, Dr. Marisa Richmond of Tennessee Equality Project, national bisexual advocate and author Robyn Ochs and D’Arcy Meyer of the National Gay & Lesbian Law Association.

Campus Pride also bestowed its National Voice & Action Leadership Award to Mara Keissling of the National Center for Transgender Equality. The award recognizes a national leader in the LGBT and ally movement who believes in the Campus Pride mission to build future leaders and create awareness, safety and visibility for LGBT students on campus.

Read more after the jump...

Fourth Annual Campus Pride Summer Leadership Camp Kicks Off at Vanderbilt University for LGBT and Ally Students this week July 20-25
Nearly 60 LGBT and ally college students from across the country; Campus Pride Organizes Leaders for Grassroots Change at Colleges & Universities

(Nashville, TN) -- Campus Pride kicks off the fourth annual summer leadership camp for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and ally college students from colleges and universities across the country. The camp begins July 20 to 25, 2010 and will be hosted for the first time on the campus of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.

Though summer is often a slow time of year for student organizers working for LGBT equality, today nearly sixty LGBT and ally college student leaders from all over the country came together for a week of planning, networking and training. Touted as the “only camp of its kind for LGBT advocacy and social justice,” the five-day camp experience blends traditional camp activities like arts and crafts with a core curriculum of skill building in leadership development, social justice and civic involvement. The camp mission is straightforward: “At the heart of a remarkable leader is a passion and a vision for change.” Camp training and activities underscore the camp mission and engage campers to explore the unique challenges faced as LGBT and ally campus leaders.

Shane Windmeyer, Executive Director of Campus Pride and author of The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students profiling the “100 Best LGBT-Friendly Campuses,” stated “It is our responsibility to build the future leaders who will continue the fight for equality at home, at work, at places of worship, at all levels of community. Those future leaders are on our college campuses today. The camp makes an investment for the future and will play a key role in training the next generation of leaders in the movement for LGBT rights.”

NEW YORK TIMES FEATURES CAMPUS PRIDE

How to Find a Gay-Friendly Campus?

CAMPUS PRIDE'S NATIONAL LGBT COLLEGE FAIR PROGRAM

THEY ARE HERE TO RECRUIT YOU
Colleges Reach Out as Never Before
by John Schwartz

READ THE ENTIRE STORY ONLINE
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/education/edlife/18guidance-t.html

The scene was similar to one that plays out thousands of times a year in gyms and auditoriums around the country: a college fair. The folding tables, the school banners, the admissions officers with a student representative or two, and the brochures and tchotchkes laid out. The only thing that might have made this one appear out of the ordinary was the preponderance of handouts with rainbow designs, and the fact that the fair was being held at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in Greenwich Village. This college fair, and several like it around the country, was devoted to recruiting gay students.

“Actually going out and recruiting a gay student — that’s a very new thing for colleges,” says Shane L. Windmeyer, the co-founder of Campus Pride, a national organization that promotes safe college environments for gay students and sponsored the event.

While Ivy League schools are often represented, the fairs also attract lesser-known institutions like Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Scott A. McIntyre, associate director of admissions there, says that his university attends some 500 fairs each year, and that including one for gay students made sense.

"Pride," to me, is not just about my LGBTQ identity. While the word 'pride' has been powerfully rendered a symbol of our community by the decades of struggles - which are nothing short of heroic - on the parts of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters, I believe that it means more.

OPEN. That’s the name of Clark University’s LGBTQA organization that I lead. It’s not an acronym at all, so recently we put it up to vote; “Open People Exclude No one” was the answer to our inquiry. Great thinking, but it seems like something’s missing.

OPEN. Open-minded, open to everyone, out in the open, open up, open-ended, our doors are always open, open arms, open up the closet, open to discussion, open to interpretation. “OPEN” packs a punch; it’s short, sweet, encompassing.

As for me, the many ambitions of OPEN keep me busy. My name is Hillary Gleason, and I’m an undergraduate student at Clark University in Worcester, MA. I’m a Junior, double majoring in Women’s and Gender Studies as well as Psychology. I’m a Point Scholar, CU’s OPEN President, a queer theory enthusiast, and a gay woman. I’m fascinated by the gender continuum in all of its fluidity and expressions. I’m a proud queer feminist and trust me—it’s a full-time job...

Wow! I am on a plane now, still reeling from the Campus Pride LGBT-friendly College Fair we held today in Boston, MA There were 250+ LGBT and ally high school students and their families from across the New England area in attendance.

Personally, I want to say thank you to Friends of GLBT Youth who were co-sponsors with the fair. It was a wonderful collaboration. Thank you Shane M., Lex, Tim, Trish, Cory, Eric, Allison, Pierce and all the other amazing volunteers. Plus a special thanks to Edge News who wrote this wonderful piece the day prior (http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=96940)

The Campus Pride National College Fair Program is in its third year and this was our first time in Boston. I arrived the night before and while the Red Sox lost at Fenway, we hit a GRAND SLAM today. The fair had an astounding 40 colleges from across the nation and was actually hosted in the Great Hall of the State House in Massachusetts. Talk about progressive – another example how Massachusetts is leading the way. It truly was a special event, One parent put it best in an email the week leading up to the fair:

Campus Pride College Fair Comes to Massachusetts Statehouse to Recruit Out LGBT & Ally Students on Wednesday, September 30th

National fair program partners with Friends of GLBT Youth, Inc to provide state-wide outreach to youth and families

Boston, MA, Wed, September 16, 2009 -- In less than two weeks, Campus Pride (www.campuspride.org) comes to the Massachusetts Statehouse in Boston to host its national college fair, the only program in the nation for out lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and ally students to find LGBT-friendly colleges. The fair will take place on Wed, September 30 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Great Hall/Grand Staircase. The fair is in partnership with Friends of GLBT Youth, Inc based locally in Boston, MA . More information available at http://www.campusclimateindex.org/events.

There are nearly thirty colleges currently registered to attend the fair from across the country including: Babson College, Brandeis University, Brown University, Bridgewater State College, Case Western Reserve University, Columbia College Chicago, Colby-Sawyer College, Dartmouth College, Emory University, Emerson College, Goddard College, Harvard College, Haverford College, Pitzer College, Suffolk University, Susquehanna University, Trinity College, Tufts University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Maine Farmington, University of New Hampshire, University of Southern Maine, University of Vermont, University of Maine, University of Pennsylvania, Ursinus College and Yale University.