The i3b community is proud to present the 2022 Lavender Award winners!
The recipient of the LGBTQIA+ Advocate of the Year Award is Simone "Scones" Loysen. The recipient of this award is someone who consistently shows a dedication to serving LGBTQIA+ people at UMBC or in the greater LGBTQIA+ community through their activism, research, or civic engagement. This person recognizes the challenges unique to many LGBTQIA+ people and seeks to contribute to LGBTQIA+ communities facing these challenges through their service. The person's passion for service is evident to all those who surround them.
Scones has been a leader within and beyond the LGBTQIA+ community. They are always doing the most to advocate for queer students on campus. They have researched, written for the retriever, led workshops, and participated in the student demonstration for ensuring that trans students feel safe on this campus. They have been an incredible trans activist on this campus.
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The recipient of the Lavender Student Leader of the Year Award is Angelica Mansfield. The recipient of this award is an LGBTQIA+-identified student who has made a lasting contribution to the UMBC community either through a student organization, a campus student employment position, assistantship, or extracurricular activity. This may be in service to the LGBTQIA+ community, to another community, or cause. This student is influential, inclusive, and has a strong social justice lens that promotes equity and community building. The student nominated for this award embodies the idea that service is something that is ongoing and is reflective of the needs of the community they serve.
Angelica has been heavily involved in campus leadership and especially in respect to LGBTQIA+ awareness. She has been active and on the board for the LGBTQ Student Union. She has led workshops. She has been invested and dedicated to working with and meeting LGBTQ students on campus. This nomination was submitted by Maxine Elovitz.
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The recipient of the LGBTQIA+ Scholar of the Year is Joshua Gray. The recipient of this award an LGBTQIA+-identified student that has shown strong academic performance during their student career at UMBC either through their coursework, special projects, and/or research. Their work may be LGBTQIA+-focused or not, and it stands out among our gifted and talented UMBC students. This student has demonstrated creativity, persistence, and/or grit despite any sociopolitical or identity-based barriers. A student nominated for this award may also have served as an academic mentor or role model to their peers.
Joshua has a distinguished academic record that speaks to his impassioned pursuit of academic excellence, research, and creative achievement. He is a Dance and Media and Communication Studies (MCS) double major with a minor in Public Administration. Throughout his academic journey here, he has maintained a 4.0 GPA and was recognized as a valedictorian finalist. His research and academic pursuits are based on ethnographic and community-based participatory methods. After his undergraduate studies, he hopes to get a Ph.D. in Communication Studies to continue researching the void in information sharing and storytelling within the most marginalized communities among us. This nomination was submitted by Abinwi Acho.
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The recipient of the LGBTQIA+ Ally of the Year award is Jordan Packett. The recipient of this award is a person who may be LGBTQIA+-identifying or not, but has made a commitment to supporting LGBTQIA+ individuals on campus this year. This person has worked to support the LGBTQIA+ community on campus in addition to their other academic and co-curricular commitments. If LGBTQIA+ identifying, this person has made efforts to help other LGBTQIA+ identity groups in the community.
Jordan has been a vocal ally and advocate to the LGBTQIA+ community since they arrived on campus in 2019. They would often attend Women's Center events like Spectrum and they're now the Executive Director to the LGBTQ Student Union. Last year they were awarded the GWST department's Joan S. Korenman Outstanding Service Award. They ensure queer advocacy is incorporated in every aspect of their lives, from personal to professional to academic.
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The recipient of the Lavender Legacy Award is Dr. Manil Suri. The recipient of this award is given to an LGBTQIA+-identified person who has had a timeless impact on the UMBC LGBTQIA+ community and has been with the UMBC community for at least three years. This person has gone above and beyond by demonstrating signs of leadership in the LGBTQIA+ community either by showing courage, compassion, or common courtesy. This award may go to any current or past staff, faculty, student, and/or alum who's priceless contribution to UMBC's LGBTQIA+ community echoes the celebration of diversity for which our institution is known.
Dr. Suri has been a vocal advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community for at least a decade. He often discusses the intersection of his identities as a queer, Indian, mathematician in his NY Times op-ed articles like "Why Is Science so Straight?" and his personal essay "How to be Gay and Indian". Outside of UMBC mathematics, he's known for writing novels set in India. His third novel, The City of Devi, was ranked number 12 in the 50 essential works of LGBT fiction list by Flavorwire. He is many student's first representation of a queer person of color in STEM and he doesn't shy away from sharing this aspect of his identity with his students.
Congratulations to all of the 2022 Lavender Award winners!
Thank you to everyone who submitted nominations, and to those who were part of the nomination process.
LGBTQ+ PRIDE is the celebration of the lives, self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and many others (such as asexual, nonbinary, pansexual and Two Spirit) people as a social group. PRIDE, as opposed to shame and social stigma, is the predominant outlook that bolsters most LGBTQ+ rights movements.
PRIDE month is currently celebrated each year during the month of June in honor of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. Sadly, due to COVID19 many PRIDE events and festivities have been cancelled this year.
But fret not, The PRIDE Center and The Women’s Center invite you to celebrate LGBTQ+ PRIDE with us on Friday, June 26th at 8PM with our very own virtual PRIDE celebration.
Please join us for a one-hour virtual PRIDE party! All members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies are welcome. Feel free to come with your very best PRIDE outfits and swag to get your dancing, joy and resistance on!
This post was written by Heidy George, Program Associate for Student Diversity and Inclusion.
“No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.”
-Marsha P. Johnson
June is PRIDE season. A month where we celebrate all things gay with loud parades, gender bending drag shows, thumping music, rainbows, and glitter. So much glitter. This year is particularly special, as it is the 50th anniversary of the very first PRIDE parade held in the 51 blocks of Central Park in New York. This milestone made me reflect on how our community has gotten here. New York, however, as well as many other cities look different this year...
It is PRIDE season, where amidst the celebration - most non-Black, mostly cis, LGBTQ+ folk forget that Black and Brown trans and queer people carved this month out with their bodies. Black and Brown trans women (especially) led the struggle and the riots that started the revolution which gave us the rights we enjoy today. These riots, coupled with those bloodied and bruised bodies, were the catalysts for what we now know as PRIDE.
It is PRIDE season, during an utterly unforgiving global pandemic. And if I didn’t understand how systemic racism actually works, I would certainly call Corona a racist.
It is PRIDE season, as our world protests white supremacist and government sanctioned police violence that forced countless Black, Indigenous and Brown families to bury their children.
It is PRIDE season, but right now, I can’t celebrate.
It is PRIDE season, and I honestly don’t know how any of my Black siblings still have any fight left in them.
It is PRIDE season, yet Nina Pop, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Korryn Gains, Atatiana Jefferson, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, Aiyana Jones, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Walter Scott and countless others are no longer with us.
So I ask, how many names do we have to see before we do something?
We need to do better.
If you ain’t Black, YOU need to do better. Full stop.
If you ain’t Black but you’re LGBTQ+, YOU need to do better. You don’t get a pass for being LGBTQ+. Period.
So, what are you going to do?
Are you going to prioritize Black and Brown voices?
Are you going to take the time to learn Black Africana history and Black Africana contributions?
Are you going to celebrate instead of appropriate Black culture?
Are you going to listen?
Are you going to donate?
Are you going to protest?
Are you going to organize?
What are YOU going to do?
If you're willing to do any of this, look for some roadmaps to guide you by visiting our page, our IG, the Women's Center, and the Office of Equity and Inclusion to get started.
Happy PRIDE everyone.
]]>Campus Life’s Student Diversity and Inclusion staff are proud to present the 2020 Lavender Award winners!!
The Emerging Student Leader is an LGBTQ+-identified student who is early in their academic career at UMBC who has at least one year left until graduation. This student has been involved and has already made an impact at UMBC in their short time here. The recipient of this award is someone who we can expect to see a lot more of for the upcoming year.
The recipient of this award is one of the strongest LGBTQ advocates on campus and their motivation stems from a need to build a better future for trans and non-binary folks. From volunteer to intern in the Women's Center, they have helped revive the Spectrum program and have breathed new life into the group. Her contributions go beyond relationship building and into community empowerment as she works with all a manner of UMBC faculty, staff, and students to create a better, affirming campus.
This year’s Emerging Student Leader Award winner is: Autumn Cook. Autumn (pronouns she/her/they/their) is a junior Meyerhoff Scholar (M29), pursuing a BS in Chemistry and a BA in Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies dual degree. Autumn is currently a student intern at the Women’s Center.
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The recipient of the Service to the LGBTQ+ Community Awardconsistently shows a dedication to serving LGBTQ+ people at UMBC or in the greater LGBTQ+ community. This person recognizes the challenges unique to many LGBTQ+ people and seeks to contribute to LGBTQ+ communities facing these challenges through service. The person’s passion for service is evident to all those who surround them.
This award winner made extensive contributions to the UMBC community in a very short time. A tireless advocate and educator, he has increased the University Health Services & Counseling staff's multicultural awareness in understanding the needs of LGBTQ+ students. He also successfully organized an LGBTQ+ resource fair which included booths for name changes, haircuts, general health resources, and HRT & surgery resources. Furthermore, he has been offering Trans Support Group this academic year. His passion and care for the LGBTQ+ community showed itself through his outstanding service provisions.
This year’s Service to the LGBTQ+ Community Award winner is: Ethan Swift. Ethan (pronouns he/him/they/their) is currently one of the Counseling Center’s Doctoral Interns. He recently accepted a permanent position as Staff Psychologist at the Counseling Center that will begin August 10th.
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The Outstanding LGBTQ+ Ally may be LGBTQ+-identified or not but has made a commitment to supporting LGBTQ+ individuals on campus this year. This person has worked to support the LGBTQ+ community on campus in addition to their other academic and co-curricular commitments. If LGBTQ+-identified, this person has made efforts to help other identity groups in the community.
This award winner is a member of the LGBTQ community and an ally to all. As a non-binary person of color and an activist, they are constantly working towards intersectional approaches to complex problems on our campus. Their strong, high ideals paired with their seemingly unending energy make them a force to be reckoned with.
This year’s Outstanding LGBTQ+ Ally Award winner is: Kay Hinderlie, Class of 2020. Kay (pronouns they/them) is a Psychology major and Women’s Center student staff.
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The LGBTQ+ Student of the Yearis an LGBTQ+ identified student that has made a lasting contribution to the LGBTQ+ community here at UMBC. This person is influential and strong. A person nominated for this award will embody the idea that service is something that is ongoing and should be reflective of the needs of the LGBTQ+ UMBC community.
This award winner has an incredible heart and passion for service. They have been instrumental in creating initiatives that center trans and non-binary people and have also been one of the strongest voices for non-binary and trans inclusion in both Residential Life and UMBC's classrooms.
This year’s LGBTQ+ Student of the Year Award winner is: Sam Hertl, Class of 2020. Sam (pronouns they/them) is a Social Work major and intern at the Women’s Center.
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The Lavender Legacy Award is awarded to an LGBTQ+-identified person who has left a timeless impact on the UMBC LGBTQ+ community. This person has gone above and beyond by demonstrating signs of leadership in the LGBTQ+ community either by demonstrating signs of courage, compassion or common courtesy. This award may go to any current or past staff, faculty, student and/or aluma/us who's priceless contribution to UMBC's LGBTQ+ community echoes the celebration of diversity our institution is known for.
Dating back to when she was the program management specialist for Gender + Women's Studies, she has been active with the LGBTQ community of UMBC in every way imaginable. From formal positions with the LGBTQ Faculty and Staff Association to being the person that all LGBTQ folks can flock to when they first start UMBC and need help navigating the not-so-intuitive system that exists, she is an asset to our community. She is a mentor, a friend, an ally, and--when need be--a fire starter who can get things done efficiently and effectively. Her work often goes unnoticed by virtue of her expertise in logistics and planning, but nonetheless her work and her contributions deserve recognition.
This year’s Lavender Legacy Award winner is: Elle Trusz. Elle (pronouns she/her/hers) is a Business Manager at Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (MIPAR). Elle is also Staff Chair for the LGBTQ Faculty and Staff Association.
Congratulations to all of the 2020 Lavender Award winners!
Thank you to everyone who submitted nominations, and to those who were part of the nomination process. This year’s Lavender Nominations Committee Members: Vicki Sipe, Catalog and Metadata Librarian in the AOK Library; Bri Gumbs, Program Coordinator in the Women’s Center; James Serini and Sofia Encarnacion - two of our 2019-2020 Campus Life Diversity and Inclusion Peers and Heidy George, Program Associate for Student Diversity and Inclusion.