On Saturday, Feb. 11, Campus Pride Executive Director Shane Windmeyer will be a featured speaker at the Association of Fraternal Leadership & Values Central Region Conference in St. Louis, Mo., the largest of the AFLV's regional gatherings across the country.

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Shane is just one of more than a dozen speakers who will discuss leadership, teamwork, diversity, organizing, fraternity and sorority life, health and sexuality.

If you're in the area or near St. Louis and have never seen Shane's Gay Point Average™ presentation, hop on over to the AFLV's conference site to learn more and see if you can stop by.

About 'What's your Gay Point Average™?'
It is time to take the ultimate test - what's your Gay Point Average? Learning about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues does not have to be divisive or difficult on campus. In fact, college students today need to understand why having a high Gay Point Average is an important aspect of diversity and preparation for success in life - at home, the workplace, and places of worship. And, believe it or not, sometimes straight people actually have a higher Gay Point Average than a Grade Point Average... and that's okay. Shane shares in a personal way the challenges confronting LGBT youth and challenges every person to play an active role in creating safe communities where everyone can thrive.

Campus Pride is excited to present David Hanson, a new contributor here at CampusPrideBlog.org. His first entry with us appears below. Expect to see more contributions from David twice per month.

A Boston native, David now lives in Austin, Texas, where he is the CFO and COO of TourDeFIT.com, a new venture company focused on web-based interfaces for individuals, corporations and higher education institutions to advance health and fitness. David began his professional career as an attorney and has worked as an Honors Program JAG Attorney for the U.S. Army and as a federal law clerk. He also has experience in communications and higher education; David worked for nearly 10 years at Emory University, where he served as associate vice president for administration and as the special assistant (chief of staff) to the executive vice president for finance and administration. In these roles, David managed communications and policy development for the institution’s CFO, launched several new initiatives and programs and oversaw the Offices of Business Management, Business Data Analysis, Clifton Community Partnership, Sustainability Initiatives, and Bike Emory. David holds an MBA from Emory University, a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from University of Florida and a doctorate in higher education and non-profit management from the University of Pennsylvania.

Reading a news article about an alleged gay bashing on the grounds of your alma mater is difficult, especially when you worked in a leadership position at the institution for nearly a decade.  Emory University recently made the national news when a gay undergraduate man alleged he was the victim of anti-gay physical abuse and harassment at the hands of fraternity members on campus (see also this story from The Emory Wheel).

Having spent the last 10 years of my life working and socializing as an openly gay administrator on Emory’s campus in Atlanta, I was shocked by the allegations and headlines.  I was equally surprised by the speed at which the incident triggered peers, friends and colleagues across the nation to contact me and ask, “Is Emory really a hostile place for the LGBT community?  How did you work there for so long?”

My heart sank as I read online submissions from parents to the Emory student newspaper stating they were withdrawing their children’s applications for admission.  The emotion caused by the incident, given the allegations, should not have been unexpected as any form of anti-gay harassment or gay bashing is unacceptable — whether on or off of a college campus.  But, one tends to believe that bad things like this could only occur at “another” institution, not Emory.  Reality, however, made me realize that no place is completely safe yet for the LGBT community.

Just as Campus Pride and Lambda 10 Project head to Indiana University for the 2010 OUT & Greek Fraternity Leadership Conference, we learn that gay and straight ally fraternity Sigma Phi Beta will initiate their first out-of-state members at Indiana University this weekend.

Sigma Phi Beta, founded at Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz., will initiate 15 members at Indiana University. The school is the home of the oldest and largest college fraternity system.

"I look forward to welcoming the new members from the Indiana University colony into our Brotherhood,” Nathan Arrowsmith, the fraternity’s national president, says in a release.

Arrowsmith will preside over the Indiana University initiation ceremony.

"The students at Indiana University have worked hard to bring Sigma Phi Beta to their campus, opening up more opportunities for gay men and their allies to experience brotherhood within the traditional Greek fraternity system," Arrowsmith says. "This is our first major step towards achieving our vision of creating a uniquely diverse safe space within the traditional Greek fraternity system on college campuses nationwide."

Sigma Phi Beta was founded in 2003. It's national organization was formed in 2005.

For more information about Sigma Phi Beta Fraternity, visit www.sigmaphibeta.org.