The second Meeting of the LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education took place in Los Angeles on the AULA campus on November 21 and 22, 2010. President Neal King was especially pleased to host the distinguished group of educational leaders.
“Pioneers and progressives by nature and history, and long an extremely LGBTQ affirmative university, AULA was honored to host this august group of courageous men and women who walk their talk and provide needed and impactful leadership in American Higher Education in the area of LGBTQ rights, scholarship, and advocacy,” commented Dr. King.
The aim of this year’s meeting was to make preparations for a panel presentation at the 93rd Annual Meeting of the American Council of Education (ACE) to be held March 5-8, 2011. Over the course of the two-day meeting, the presidents’ presentation addressed the issue of diversity and leadership in higher education. As a participant in the ACE conference, the LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education will contribute a unique voice to the conference agenda.
Founded in August 2010, the LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education focuses on promoting leadership development for current and future gay presidents, supporting professional development for gay people at all levels of academy, and advocating equity and diversity through education. The eight presidents and four partners of the steering committee reported on work done since the first meeting in Chicago last summer by the organization’s subcommittees in the areas of web presence, partnership with other organizations, and how this new organization might govern itself going forward. To this end, the group worked diligently to establish the framework for what is expected to be a larger, inclusive group of higher education administrators and industry professionals in the near future.
Attending the November 2010 meeting were Ray Crossman of the Adler School of Professional Psychology (Chicago, Illinois); Charles Middleton of Roosevelt University (Chicago, Illinois); Les McCabe of the Semester at Sea and Institute for Shipboard Education (Charlottesville, Virginia); Ralph Hexter of the Hampshire College (Amherst, Massachusetts); Kathrine Ragsdale of the Episcopal Divinity School (Cambridge, Massachusetts); Charlita Shelton of the University of the Rockies (Colorado Springs, Colorado) and the meeting host, Neal King of Antioch University Los Angeles (Culver City, California.)
Pictured, back row (left to right): Katherine Ragsdale, Peter Morrison, Neal King, Ralph Hexter, Charles Middleton.
Front row (left to right): Les McCabe, William Bridge, Lynne Schumal, Charlita Shelton, and Ray Crossman.