GLBT Alumni Association marks 10th anniversary

The IU Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transsexual Alumni Association celebrated its 10th anniversary Friday with a reception at the Virgil T. DeVault Alumni Center.\nIU alumni and members of the association's current board mingled at the gathering. Dean of Students Dick McKaig and Doug Bauder, GLBT Student Support Services Office director, spoke of the importance of the association and the work it has done on campus. \n"The GLBT Alumni Association gives recent grads and older alum a chance to connect with each other and provide support for the GLBT office," Bauder said. "It's a great group." \nThe GLBT Alumni Association, which has more than 800 members and is affiliated with the larger IU Alumni Association, primarily works to offer scholarships to students. The association particularly works to help students cut off from financial help after coming out to their parents, Bauder said. In addition, the association provides grants for various groups within the GLBT office at IU. \n"Something we set out to do early on in this group is create a place where GLBT alumni and their friends can support the University in a more public way that we couldn't do before," said Jeff McKinney, the association's founding president.\nDuring the gathering, Bauder shared letters from parents of former students that chronicled their positive experiences with the GLBT office.\n"I talked about the fact that while we, as GLBT individuals, often become family for each other, we do in fact have biological family members (parents of IU students) who are grateful for our services," he said. \nBeyond scholarships, one of the main goals of the association is to raise money for grants that go toward the various support groups and programs connected with the GLBT office on campus. The GLBT Alumni Association holds one major event for its alumni in the summer, but it has smaller, intimate gatherings throughout the year, he said. \n"For a group like this, you can't just send out letters in the mail like you would for a Hilly Hundred Alumni Association or something of that nature," McKinney said. "Most of our networking is done by word of mouth, but I think we have a great support system even though our numbers aren't as high as some others might be.