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2024 Board Elections

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The Annual Meeting of the LGBTQ Leaders in Higher Education will take place on October 16, 3:15 pm at the Leadership Institute. Members will have the opportunity to vote on a strategic plan, recently endorsed by the Board of Directors. The draft strategic plan, which will guide the organization through 2027, is available below. We will have a free virtual discussion on Zoom for feedback and questions on September 30 at 2 pm Eastern, 11 am Pacific. See more information and register here. 

Members will also be asked to ratify a slate of candidates for Board membership that includes Joe Bertolino, President of Stockton University; Manny Velasquez, Director, Career Education at University of North Florida; and Gillian McKnight-Tutein, Chief Educational Equity Officer for the Colorado Department of Higher Education.

With over 30 years in higher education, Joe Bertolino has led initiatives that expand LGBTQ+ support and promote social justice. As President at Stockton University and other institutions, his leadership reflects a deep commitment to equity, fostering inclusive campus environments. Nationally recognized for his work, he has spoken across the country on LGBTQ+ rights, emphasizing dignity, kindness, respect, compassion, and civility.

Gillian McKnight-Tutein says “being accepted to the Board would mean a profound opportunity to advocate for inclusive policies, support other LGBTQ+ leaders and impact educational environments in additionally meaningful ways.”

Manuel Velasquez-Paredes says, “I am honored to be considered to join the Board of LGBTQ Leaders in Higher Education, and I bring a deep commitment to advancing LGBTQ+ inclusion and equity within our academic communities. My work in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has focused on creating spaces where all voices are heard, and I am passionate about championing the needs of LGBTQ+ youth, faculty, and staff. I look forward to collaborating with fellow leaders to foster environments where everyone can thrive, both personally and professionally.”

Strategic Plan, 2025-27

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At their August meeting, the Board of Directors of the LGBTQ Leaders in Higher Education accepted a draft of a strategic plan that would guide the organization’s development over the next three years. The plan was recommended to the membership, and was approved at the Annual Meeting on October 16 in Bothell, Washington.

The plan covers several major areas: strategic direction, membership, programming, sustainability, as well as reputation and influence building.

Strategic Plan for reviewDownload

See above to review the plan.

Conscious and Inclusive Language Webinar

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On May 16, we welcomed two great guests to speak to us about using conscious and inclusive language in an academic setting. D. Scott (Ph.D., they/them) is a former academic in critical geography and law turned professional freelance editor. They were zooming in from Albuquerque, New Mexico. (Check out the LGBTQ+ Editors Association.) Thoko Kamwendo (Ph.D., she/her) is a sociologist of science. She was on Zoom from Edinburgh, Scotland.

In their one-hour webinar, the facilitators talked about what conscious and inclusive language is, about how commonly used language can do harm, and how conscious and inclusive language can minimize that harm. The term “conscious language” was coined by Karen Yin, the founder of the Conscious Style Guide. Primarily, D. explained, “conscious and inclusive language is focused on not causing harm and honoring people’s identities.” 

Thoko said, “we think that this distinction between harm and offense is important, particularly in the context of academia, right where learning and discovery happens through the exchange of ideas, and these are exchanges that can sometimes be clashes.” The focus of conscious and inclusive language is on not causing harm, not on avoiding causing offense.

For the full webinar, including a discussion of how other languages (Swedish, Spanish) are approaching gender-inclusive terms, members may log in to the website (see this page on how to do that) and check out the Member Area for the link to the recording.

See the Events page for newest offerings, including webinars.

Annual Members Meeting

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Four nominated for open board positions

The Annual Meeting of the LGBTQ Leaders in Higher Education will take place in New Haven, CT, on October 19, 2023 at 4:30 pm. Members will have the opportunity to hear about the activities of the organization, and vote on a slate of candidates for positions on the Board of Directors. The meeting will also include an interactive session to focus on how we best meet the needs, aspirations and expectations of our members.  We will co-create and explore design principles and priorities that ideally situate LGBTQ Leaders in Higher Education to have a meaningful impact on our mission, “...advancing effective leadership in the realm of post-secondary education, supports professional development of LGBTQ leaders in that sector, and provides education and advocacy regarding LGBTQ issues within the global academy and for the public at large.”

The Governance and Nominations Committee has forwarded a slate of candidates for open board seats. The candidates are:

The Annual Meeting is scheduled as the final session of the Leadership Institute and will be held in the Adanti Student Center at Southern Connecticut State University. Registered participants at the Leadership Institute are invited to attend and participate, but only members of the association (as recorded on October 12, 2023) will be allowed to vote. To join, click here.

Members may be Individual Members, at the $100 annual rate, or they may be designees of Institutional Members. Members need not be registered for the Leadership Institute to attend, but attendance in person (or by proxy) is required to vote.

Members may be Individual Members, at the $100 annual rate, or they may be designees of Institutional Members. Members need not be registered for the Leadership Institute to attend, but attendance in person (or by proxy) is required to vote.

New Partnership Adds Member Benefit

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LGBTQ Leaders in Higher Education has recently approved a partnership with The Virtual Care Group to offer consortium pricing for Member Institutions.

Danny Zusman, founder and CEO of The Virtual Care Group said, “We are excited to have a growing list of campuses partnering with us to provide 24/7 UNLIMITED telehealth (telemedicine, teletherapy, life coaching, and on-demand crisis counseling) access for their students. Our well-being solutions are customizable and affordable ensuring we can find the best fit for the unique needs of each campus. Best of all, consortium discount pricing is now available thanks to our partnership.”

To learn how The Virtual Care Group can help you better support your students, please schedule a no-obligation demo with VCG today by clicking HERE. 

On May 17, 2023 3:00 PM EST, The Virtual Care Group will host a webinar to showcase the many benefits of partnering with a higher-ed focused telehealth provider to meet the ever increasing demand of students.

Almost 50 percent of 2022 entering college students report being “emotionally/mentally” exhausted (BCSSE, 2022) as they were beginning college. With the increase in student need running head first into exhausted front-line caregiver staff, sustainable solutions are complicated.

We would encourage you to register today as space is limited! As a partner with the LGBTQ Leaders in Higher Education, VCG looks forward to discussing:

  • Available solutions 
  • Case study successes
  • Our barrier free approach ensuring access and equity
  • Consortium discount pricing

Members-only Discussion Lounge

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One of the newest features of our website is a members-only discussion board via Discord.

What’s a “discord”? According to the Discord website, their “servers are organized into topic-based channels where you can collaborate, share, and just talk about your day without clogging up a group chat.” Our Discord server is a members-only lounge for discussion of issues, posting questions or event notices, and general shenanigans. 

For example, if you’re the only out lesbian provost in your state, you might want to chat with other lgbtq provosts around the country. Or if you’re in a border town and want to collaborate with others in your area about the rise of anti-queer curriculum, you can look for queer peers on our server. Where else can you do that? The server is web-based, or you can download the Discord app. 

Log in to account by clicking on the blue bar above to find out more.

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