Campus Pride Voice & Action National Award recipient Jacob Tobia, a sophomore at Duke University in Durham, N.C., is a busy man. On top of his academic responsibilities, he serves as director of LGBTQ policy affairs for the Duke Student Government and has been a chief organizer of the campus' efforts to rally students against Amendment One, the anti-LGBT constitutional amendment proposed in North Carolina.

Yesterday, Tobia's activism and awareness efforts paid off as the Duke University Student Senate unanimously approved a resolution opposing Amendment One.

From Duke's student paper, The Chronicle:

The resolution­—submitted by senior Daren Miller, a senator for student life; sophomore Jacob Tobia, director of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer policy and affairs, and President Pete Schork, a senior who was absent at the meeting—affirmed DSG’s support for the LGBT community and served to represent the student body’s opposition to the amendment. The North Carolina primary election and referendum is May 8, and early voting is from April 19 to May 5.

“I am immensely proud of Duke Student Government for taking a stand for families of countless North Carolinians and for the rights of LGBT people across the state,” Tobia said in an interview. “It speaks volumes about our institution and our student body... but this is just the beginning of a long campaign to mobilize voters against the amendment.”

Be sure to click over to The Chronice and read the rest of the write-up on Tobia's resolution...

The following is a guest post by Samuel Brinton, Campus Pride's 2011 National Voice & Action Leadership Award recipient, on his experience at the launch of Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation on Feb. 29 at Harvard University. Samuel attended the event with another student leader and Campus Pride's executive director, Shane Windmeyer.

My Wednesday started like any other. I woke up smiling as I generally do but I did not know that my afternoon was about to be spent doing something much more exciting than nuclear engineering homework and instead I would be listening to the inspiring words of two powerful women: Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey.

While checking my Facebook -- as I do much too often throughout the day -- I learned that Shane was in town and had an extra ticket to the launch of the Born This Way Foundation. I had been dreaming of going but those tickets were scarce. Soon I was running out the door…I had to change. I couldn’t let Mother Monster see me without heels on!

After changing into a beautiful pair of black buttoned high heel boots, a shimmery scarf, and my signature black and white fedora, I was sashaying toward Harvard as the snow began to fall. Needless to say I was floating on air! As we were seated I realized just how amazing this event was going to be. Filled with high school students, Harvard professors, and Massachusetts activists this room was simply buzzing with energy.

Following some opening remarks, Shane and I were overjoyed to hear from the amazing Oprah Winfrey. She spoke on the need of every individual to feel respected and belong. A cute anecdote she offered was that in the more than 35 years of interviewing people from around the world, it always seemed that they would end the interview by leaning over and whispering to her “Was that okay? Did I do it right?” – the room laughed when Ms. Winfrey said “even Beyonce, in all her Beyonce-ness” wanted to belong and that was why she wanted to be there in support of the Born This Way Foundation.

As Oprah introduced Lady Gaga the room burst into cheers of support. Styling a very gothic inspired long black dress, heels as tall as my head, and a headdress modeling spider webs, Mother Monster took the stage and graciously sat down for a chat while stating, “I can’t believe we got Oprah!”. She began by explaining why we were all here. Lady Gaga was excited to see all the conversation which took place after the release of the song Born This Way and wanted to keep those conversations alive. The Born This Way Foundation will work with organizations like Campus Pride to promote Safety, Skills, and Opportunity as three pillars to empowering students to stand up against bullying. Throughout the event Gaga stated that “This is not an anti-bullying foundation. This is about empowering students.”

A panel would follow the interview with Oprah as Lady Gaga was asked on specifics which this foundation would be using to combat the hatred which bullies have spread. A question on how cyber bullying could be addressed was raised from the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebilius. Lady Gaga spoke of future work to create a social media safe space but emphasized it will be the role of each and every student to make their community a safe space and stand up for those who are bullied.

Allyssa Rodemeyer, the sister of Jamie Rodemeyer who took his own life after being bullied, wanted to know how students could get involved. Lady Gaga responded by reminding her that “If we could just get one Alyssa in each school” to sense if something is going wrong then the Foundation will have succeeded. While citing the disaster of Columbine and the warning signs that teachers missed, Lady Gaga reminded those present that students need the empowerment to make the difference in their own schools.

While sauntering back home as the snow continued to fall I was so happy to know that Lady Gaga and Oprah have used their position of fame to let this generation know that we were Born This Way! This Little Monster is going to help spread that message and I hope you’ll do the same.

Wahls, thrust into spotlight after impassioned speech defending his two mothers, to be awarded honorary Voice & Action Award at Campus Pride’s Summer Leadership Camp

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!
Registration for the sixth annual Camp Pride, July 17-22, 2012, is now open. An early discounted rate of $815 is available through May 1. Scholarships for free registration are also available. A special “Advisory Bootcamp” track for LGBT and ally faculty advisors is also available. Students and advisors can register online or learn more about scholarship opportunities at www.campuspride.org/camppride/

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Iowa native Zach Wahls, whose speech on his state house’s floor on behalf of his mothers and marriage equality inspired millions, will speak as a guest keynote and receive an honorary Voice & Action National Leadership Award at Camp Pride (www.campuspride.org/camppride/), the national summer leadership program for young lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and straight ally student leaders held July 17-22, 2012, at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University.

Wahls’ Jan. 31, 2011, speech in front of the Iowa House Judiciary Committee went viral on YouTube and other social media outlets in the days after he took a stand in his state’s debate on marriage. Soon after, TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres invited Wahls on her show to discuss his speech and his family’s story. Since then, Wahls has spent countless hours advocating for his family and other LGBT-led families and their fight to receive equal marriage rights across the U.S. His book, “My Two Moms: Lessons of Love, Strength, and What Makes a Family” (Gotham Books), is due to be released on April 26, 2012.

“Zach’s amazing conviction in standing up for the rights of his family has been an inspiration to LGBT young people, families and straight allies across this nation,” said Campus Pride Executive Director Shane Windmeyer. “At a time when the national debate on marriage equality for same-sex couples continues to be used as a political football, Zach’s simple message of love, honor and commitment reminds each of us what a family is really about and acts to empower young people across the nation to stand up for what they believe is right and true.”

The Voice & Action National Leadership Award will be presented to Wahls on the final evening of Camp Pride. Wahls will be joined at the camp by other national speakers and entertainers. Past honorary award winners have included Neil Giuliano, Donna Rose, Mara Keisling, Judy Shepard and Daniel Hernandez, Jr. 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 people on their campuses and in their communities. Campus Pride honored three other students with the award this year, including University of California, Berkeley’s Marco Flores, New York University’s Tovah Leibowitz and Duke University’s Jacob Tobia.

Camp Pride, Campus Pride’s Summer Leadership Program, is a one-of-kind leadership experience that brings together over 60 LGBT 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. The summer leadership program will be featured in May in the documentary “Legalize Gay: The Civil Rights Movement of a Generation” on the national TV network Logo. Campus Pride is the nation’s leading non-profit organization for LGBT and allied college and university students.

Registration for the sixth annual Camp Pride, July 17-22, 2012, is now open. An early discounted rate of $815 is available through May 1. Scholarships for free registration are also available. The cost of registration includes educational curriculum, all program materials, accommodations for five nights and meals as well as entertainment and activities. A special “Advisory Bootcamp” track for LGBT and ally faculty advisors is also available. Students and advisors can register online or learn more about scholarship opportunities at www.campuspride.org/camppride/.

A round-up of national LGBT and progressive news, including...

• Campus Pride 'Top 12' Voice & Action leader nets State Dept. internships
• UNC chancellor rejects gender-neutral housing option
• SUNY Fredonia embarks on campus climate assessment
• Survey finds college freshmen more liberal
• Georgia's oldest HBCU gets first LGBT student group
• Canada's first fraternity for gay and bi men

Campus Pride 'Top 12' Voice & Action leader nets State Dept. internship

Greensboro College student Matthew Troy has accepted an internship for the summer of 2012 with the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. While there, he plans to work with U.S. groups that advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to help those groups expand internationally.

Troy also was offered an internship in the Office of the Secretary, but he chose the Bureau internship instead because he felt that position would let him do "more substantive work on projects and less 'busy work' to accommodate the executives."

In January, Troy, a junior from Mason, Ohio, was also named one of the Top 12 Student Leaders in Action by Campus Pride. He received that honor for guiding a group of students through the process of establishing Greensboro College's Gay-Straight Alliance. That process involved seeking the approval of officials not only at the college but also in the United Methodist Church. He also worked with students at other Greensboro-area campuses on assessing conditions for LGBT students.

He also was recognized on the basis of his scholarship and general campus service. He has a 3.8 grade-point average while double-majoring in mathematics and political science, with minors in humanities, ethics, and women's and gender studies. He has served as a residence advisor; leader of the student community supervisors for Village 401, the campus's main service organization; president of the student honors organization; Executive Treasurer of Student Government; and a member of Pride Productions, the college's campus-activities board. He designed a "get connected" program in which new students at Greensboro College fill out a survey and are contacted to get involved with student organizations immediately. He also recently redesigned the Student Government Association to expand from five to 29 leadership positions, covering every aspect of the college.

A member of the men's tennis team, he represents the student body on the Board of Trustees. As the college's representative on the N.C. Campus Compact Student Advisory Board, he led a team that made a presentation at the state conference, and a 15-page guide that he developed was sent out to more than 30 student leaders in North Carolina. He also is a student ambassador and fund raiser for the national anti-hunger organization Share our Strength.

In the summer of 2011, Troy worked as an intern at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where he redesigned a leadership course for the Chief of National Training that is now a mandatory course for all FEMA supervisors.

-- compiled from release

Read more headlines and news after the jump...

California, New York and North Carolina students are leading the way for positive, LGBT-inclusive change on their campuses and in their communities

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Students and young leaders across the country are making change, speaking out and taking the reins of leadership on their campuses and in their communities. Marco Flores, Tovah Leibowitz and Jacob Tobia, the three young adult leaders chosen as this year’s recipients of the Campus Pride Voice & Action National Leadership Award, are no exception.

In partnership with 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, the only of its kind, is bestowed upon undergraduate students who use their “voice” to speak up and take “action” to create change for LGBT and ally issues within their campuses, local communities and region of the country. 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.

“The talent and commitment to the movement shown by all the applicants is the reason Campus Pride developed this national honor,” said Voice & Action Award Committee Chair Christopher Bylone. “These three students have gone above the call of duty expected of any student leader in our movement.”

Campus Pride congratulates this year’s recipients:

Marco Flores, University of California, Berkeley (‘12), is a gender and women’s studies and LGBT studies major, an undergraduate student organizer for Queer People of Color (QPoC) and a student representative for the Immigrant Students Issues Coalition.

Tovah Leibowitz, New York University (‘12), is double-majoring in gender and sexuality studies and documentary filmmaking. Tovah serves as the president of the NYU Queer Union.

Jacob Tobia, Duke University (‘14), is studying human rights advocacy and leadership. Jacob serves as director of LGBTQ policy and affairs in the Duke University Student Government.

Flores will be honored at the upcoming Western Regional LGBTQUI Conference at University of the Pacific, in Stockton, Calif., Feb. 24-26. Leibowitz and Tobia will receive their awards at the Northeast LGBT Conference at Sage Colleges in Albany, N.Y., March 30-April 1. Each of the students also receives a free artist, speaker or entertainer of their choice, courtesy OUTmedia, to appear on their college campuses in 2012.

Twenty-five applications were submitted for this year’s award review process. Twelve applicants were chosen by a panel of peers and student volunteers with Campus Pride and honored in early January as Campus Pride’s “Top 12 Leaders in Action.” Flores, Leibowtiz and Tobia were chosen from this pool of 12 outstanding LGBT student leaders.

This year’s awards committee was comprised of Chris Bylone, Campus Pride volunteer and Voice & Action Award Committee chair; Kyle Byrer of the Northeast LGBT Conference and Sage Colleges; Vincent Garcia of The Point Foundation; Anthony Villegas of the Western Regional LGBTQUI Conference and University of the Pacific; and Shelly Weiss of OUTmedia.

Visit www.CampusPride.org/voiceandaction.asp to learn more about the national awards program or email [email protected].

[Media: Interviews with award winners are available upon request. Please direct any inquiries to Christopher Bylone at 704-277-6710, ext. 5 and [email protected] or to Matt Comer at 704-277-6710, ext. 6 and [email protected].]

Tovah Leibowitz
New York University
Class of 2012
Program of Study: Double Major: Gender & Sexuality Studies and Filmmaking
Intended profession: Film Editor & Gender Sexuality Professor

“I am deeply honored, but more importantly, I feel privileged to live and work alongside the thousands of students committed to projects of social justice, community organizing, and campus activism. Students are powerful agents of change and organizations like Campus Pride and the V&A National Leadership Award continue to strengthen us by recognizing and supplementing youth action. The work I do at NYU is never just my own, but a result of the relentless collective effort of dedicated students, administrators, and professors. This award not only celebrates the work we've accomplished together, but further unites and empowers us to face the challenges still ahead." ~ Tovah Leibowitz

Marco Antonio Flores
University of California, Berkeley
Class of 2012
Program of Study: Gender & Women’s Studies, LGBT Studies
Intended profession: University Professor

“I am honored to receive the Campus Pride Voice & Action National Leadership Award. After receiving the award notification my immediate response was to contact my recommenders and share the wonderful news with them. I continue to be inspired by many community activists and scholars before me who have been able to create spaces of advocacy for social justice at UC Berkeley. Estoy lleno de alegría to receive this award and share it with those who continue to move me.” ~ Marco Antonio Flores

Jacob Tobia
Duke University
Class of 2014
Program of Study: Human Rights Advocacy and Leadership
Intended profession: International Human Rights Researcher/Advocate

"I'm ecstatic to be presented with the National Voice and Action Leadership Award. It is such an honor to be included in a long legacy of passionate LGBTQ activists who are committed to making change on their campuses. Undoubtedly, the award and the opportunity to work with OUTmedia that the award represents will help me to be a more effective activist on my campus. I'm planning on bringing an OUTmedia performer to Duke for a get-out-the-vote rally against an amendment that will define marriage as between one man and one woman in the constitution of my home state of North Carolina. Thank you Campus Pride!" ~ Jacob Tobia

Active in LGBT grassroots activism and education efforts since high school, Jacob currently serves as the director of LGBTQ policy and affairs in the Duke University Student Government. He also serves as president of Duke Students for Gender-Neutrality, is a member of the Duke LGBT Task Force and serves as outreach chair for Blue Devils United, the undergraduate LGBT student group.

Jacob has also been active organizing his campus against the impending May 8, 2012, vote on an anti-LGBT constitutional amendment that would ban recognition of marriages, civil unions, domestic partnerships and other benefits for same-sex couples and unmarried opposite-sex couples.

In 2011 the staff of Campus Pride decided that another level of recognition was to be added to the National Voice & Action Leadership Award. The staff felt that there were too many amazing student leaders creating positive change on their respective campuses to only give recognition to the final recipients of the ward. This was the main reason the Top 12 Leaders in Action recognition was created. This year was another example of just that! All of the committee members agree that the applicants who applied and the work they have done is the very reason Campus Pride developed this national honor. These students are on the front lines of the movement creating positive change every day. We should be proud and thankful of all the work they do.

Just before the New Year, Campus Pride finished its review and selected the Top 12 Leaders in Action. These 12 students will also be forwarded on to the final review process. This final review process will result in the selection of the National Voice & Action Award Recipient(s).

Now please let us introduce you to the Top 12 Leaders in Action (listed in alphabetical order by first name); Ande Stone – University of Georgia, Anthony Wagner – University of Michigan-Dearborn, Derrick Clifton – Northwestern University, Eric Highers – Albion College, Giovanni Correale – Florida International University, Jacob Tobia – Duke University, Julie Champion – Georgia Tech, Kevin Claybren – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ky Kubitz – University of Oregon, Marco Flores – University of California-Berkeley, Matthew Troy – Greensboro College, Tovah Leibowitz – New York University.

Learn more about these Top 12 Leaders after the jump!

DEADLINE EXTENDED UNTIL DECEMBER 5, 2011
APPLY NOW

More info online at www.CampusPride.org/VoiceandAction

National award recognizes outstanding contributions of college student leaders across the country; Application process closes on December 5, 2011

CHARLOTTE, NC; November 10, 2011 – Today Campus Pride (www.campuspride.org) is reminding everyone that there is still time left to submit applications for the Voice & Action National Leadership Award, an honorary recognition highlighting the extraordinary contributions of young adult leaders at colleges and universities across the United States. For the fourth year, the national award is the only one nationally focused on the work of undergraduate college students who are creating positive change for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and ally issues. The application process closes on Monday, December 5, 2011.

“Young adults have always been a force locally in communities and on college campuses creating systemic, long term change -- but seldom are they recognized for their efforts nationally,” said Shane Windmeyer, Executive Director of Campus Pride. “The Voice & Action Award gives ongoing visible national recognition where it has long been overdue.”