Hernandez to be awarded honorary Voice & Action Award at Campus Pride’s Summer Leadership Camp on July 23, 2011

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Daniel Hernandez, Jr., the student intern credited with saving the life of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) after the Jan. 8 shooting attack in Tucson, Ariz., will speak as a guest keynote and receive an honorary National Voice & Action Leadership Award at Camp Pride (www.campuspride.org/camppride/) on July 19-July 24, 2011, in Nashville, Tenn.

Hernandez, who is an openly gay college student at the University of Arizona and serves on the City of Tucson Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Issues, was thrust into the national media spotlight following the January tragedy. Though he’s publicly rejected the label “hero,” his student leadership, service to his local LGBT community and work with Congresswoman Giffords has inspired young, LGBT students across the country.

“Daniel fully embodies the mission and values of Campus Pride and our Voice & Action National Leadership Award. His leadership, integrity and humility has inspired many across the nation -- simply by doing the right, just thing and being visible,” said Shane Windmeyer, founder and executive director of Campus Pride. “In a time where we have national headlines about LGBT youth suicide, it is even more important to shine a light on young adult leaders like Daniel who give hope and inspire.”

Registration opens for 5th annual Camp Pride for LGBTQ college students, expands trainings for LGBTQA faculty advisors, offers new Unsung Heroes Scholarship to remember Frances A. McDaniel.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Campus Pride, the nation’s only nonprofit organization serving LGBTQ and allied college and university students, has announced open registration for its fifth annual Camp Pride (www.campuspride.org/camppride/), held July 19-24, 2011 at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. A special Happy Camper discount rate of $795 (regular: $895) is available through April 16. Registration is limited.  Register online at www.campuspride.org/camppride.

Campus Pride’s one-of-a-kind Summer Leadership Camp brings together over 60 LGBTQ and allied young people from across the country for five days of student leadership development, campus organizing techniques, conflict management, social justice advocacy, diversity education and more. This year’s Camp Pride will also offer an exciting expansion, offering for the first time ever a special professional workshop track, the Advisor Bootcamp. This track is designed specifically for faculty advisors of LGBTQA student organizations.

“Faculty advisors for LGBTQA student clubs and organizations face unique challenges and opportunities when building awareness on their campuses,” said Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride. “Advisors play special roles: they teach students, manage conflict, act as liaisons between clubs and university administration and more. Such tasks often require support and our new Advisor Bootcamp aims to give advisors the tools they need to better their campuses and the lives of their student leaders.”

This year, students will also be able to apply for Campus Pride’s new Unsung Heroes Scholarship honoring Frances A. McDaniel. The scholarship, which covers the cost of Camp Pride registration, will be presented to students who show exemplary service and leadership on their campuses. The annual award recognizes the late Frances McDaniel, director of the Bucknell University (Lewisburg, Penn.) Office of LGBT Awareness, who passed away in January.

“Fran’s passing left a void in the hearts of many Bucknell faculty, staff and students, as well as other higher education professionals across the nation,” Windmeyer said. “We are saddened by her loss but hope her memory, passion and work toward greater LGBTQ equality will live on through the students who will benefit from this award. Fran will be missed dearly.”

Students and advisors can register online for Camp Pride or learn more about the Unsung Heroes Scholarship and other award opportunities at www.campuspride.org/camppride/register.html.

The first day of camp was terrific! More details here... :)

On their first evening, campers were given the task of ethically and inclusively managing the gendered restrooms in each of their halls. This is what happened...

I made it to Campus Pride! Faculty and Pride Leader Orientation is go:

Vlog about Day 5 of Campus Pride's LGBTQ Leadership Camp.

Vlog about day 4 of Campus Pride's LGBTQ leadership camp: Part 1 of 2 (with apologies for the separate videos--YouTube posting limits). For more on Mitchell Gold and his work, check out his interview here.

Vlog about day 4 of Campus Pride's LGBTQ leadership camp: Part 2 of 2.

Vlog about day 3 of Campus Pride's LGBTQ leadership camp.

Note: for reasons that will become apparent, my high school speech teacher would have taken issue with this presentation. I considered re-filming, thesaurus in hand, but opted to leave it as it stands, as a testament to the day's (tremendous!) impact.

Vlog about day 2 of Campus Pride's LGBTQ leadership camp.

Hello! My name is Ash, and I found my way to the Campus Q-Team by way of Campus Pride's 2009 Leadership Camp. Just short of 2 weeks after camp ended, I'm home again, staring squarely into my third and final year as both a graduate student, and an officer in my campus LGBTQ student group. I'm a master's student in printmaking at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas, where I live with my partner (...and two cats. And a rabbit. They'll be hopping in and out of video backgrounds, so it seems like you should know). As president of That Gay Group in our tenth year on campus, I went to camp hoping to find an innovative meeting idea or two, maybe some exciting team-building activities--and I did, for what it's worth--but I got immensely more than I had any idea I could expect from the experience. My first several videos here will be focused on the Leadership Camp Experience, with more to come soon on all things queer and Kansan. If you'd like to know more about me, please feel free to send me a message here, or check out my YouTube channel (which you can reach by clicking on the video here). In the meantime--glad to meet you, and thanks for watching!

Vlog about the first day at Campus Pride's LGBTQ leadership camp--with more to follow, shortly!