GLOBES, the university’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender organization for faculty and staff, will mark 17 years of service at its fall reception and silent auction Sept. 22 from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Founders Memorial Garden. Free food and adult beverages will be served.
Open to the public, the reception also will serve as the official kickoff event for Athens Pride Weekend, being held Sept. 22-25. Allies are welcome to the event, which is a celebration for the local LGBT community.
“GLOBES has a long history of being a resource to the LGBT community at UGA,” said Ricky Roberts, who chairs the organization for the 2011-2012 academic year. “We plan to continue to do our best to make the campus more welcoming to the LGBT community. This year GLOBES aims to be more far-reaching than we have been in the past.
“As the first African American to chair GLOBES, it is very important to me that GLOBES becomes a group that advocates for all underrepresented or marginalized groups in order to build a strong social justice coalition on campus,” she also said.
A new academic adviser with the Honors Program, Roberts, who has worked at UGA since 2009, will serve as the contact person for administrators and departments when individuals need information or support regarding LGBT concerns.
Her email address is rickyrob@uga.edu.
In addition to Roberts, members of the GLOBES executive committee for 2011-2012 are: Janine Aronson (Terry College of Business), communications officer; Ben Hudson (graduate student in the English department), graduate student representative; Jennifer Miracle, LGBT Resource Center ex-officio member; Jonah Berkowitz (Georgia GSA Youth Summit), community ex-officio member; and Corey Johnson (counseling and human development), Nikki S Z Smith (Career Center), Tim McLeod (Registrar’s Office), W.S. Marquardt (Undergraduate Admissions) and Danielle Berke (graduate student in the psychology department). The position of treasurer currently is vacant.
Faculty and staff who would like to become involved with GLOBES can email Roberts or attend the organization’s first monthly meeting Sept. 1 at 6 p.m. in the Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center and Hotel. Membership in GLOBES also is open to graduate students.
