Campus Pride hosts sixth annual LGBT & ally summer leadership camp, presents Zach Wahls with national leadership award and names annual “Campy” distinguished service awards

Last week, over 70 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and ally students and advisors from colleges and universities across the country came together for Campus Pride’s sixth annual social justice leadership academy, Camp Pride. The five-day camp is the only national program of its kind and was hosted at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, this year.

The camp graduation ceremony included speaker Zach Wahls, who was also recognized as the recipient of the 2012 National Voice & Action Leadership Award. 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 communities. Wahls gained national attention after a Youtube video of his January 2011 speech in defense of same-sex marriage at the Iowa House of Representatives went viral. He has continued his activism since then, and his book My Two Moms: Lessons of Love, Strength, and What Makes a Family was released in April 2012 and became a best seller.

Campus Pride also named its annual “Campy” distinguished service award recipients, who have demonstrative three or more years of outstanding service and contributions to Campus Pride. This year’s recipients were the Vanderbilt University LGBT Center (2010-2012 camp host), Vanderbilt University Conference Services (2010-2012 camp host), Public Identity (2010-2012 camp donor), Vin Porfirio (2010-2012 camp faculty), Robyn Ochs (2010 camp speaker, 2011-2012 camp faculty), Mack H. Lewis III (2009 camper, 2011-2012 Pride Leader), Jess McDonald (2010 camper, 2011-2012 Pride Leader, 2012 summer fellow), Marisa Richmond (2010-2012 camp speaker), Kit Yan (2010 camp entertainer, 2011 camp faculty, 2012 camp entertainer-in-residence), Greg Miraglia (National Volunteer Coordinator, 2008-2012) and Sue Rankin (Campus Pride research team).

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].]

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.”

In the spring of 2008 the staff of Campus Pride came together to develop the Voice & Action National Leadership Award. This award is for undergraduate student leaders who are creating positive change for LGBT students on college campuses across the country. The staff wanted to create this award because at the time there was no way on the national scale that students were being recognized for the amazing work they do on a daily basis. In just the past three award cycles (including this one) we have seen a huge increase in the awareness of the award as well as the amount of applicants applying each year. This year has raised the bar even higher – we have a total of 40 applicants, which is a 25% increase in the number of applicants from last year. We are also looking at the most diverse applicant pool of the three years this award has been in place.

We need like to publicly thank, Ernst & Young & OUTMedia. These two organizations have offered the financial support to make this award possible. Along with a free registration to attend a regional LGBT College Student Conference, the individual receives the official Voice & Action Award from Campus Pride as well as a free artist/speaker/entertainer to bring to his/her campus from our educational partner OUTmedia.

Before we move onto discussing the 2011 Voice & Action Leadership Award Applicant Pool, I wanted to briefly remind everyone of the past recipients of the award. In 2009 we awarded Justin Hager, UW-Madison; Shawna Scott, University of Georgia; and Celso Perez, Boston College. Than in 2010 we award Stephan Lucas, Pennsylvania State University and George Aumoithe, Jr., Bowdoin College. Please click here to learn about these outstanding leaders.

Now onto the 2011 Voice & Action Leadership Award Applicant Pool

Details are after the jump!