February 17, 2003


Decatur commissioner to speak at Pride banquet

By Cathi Wentworth



The first African American, openly lesbian woman elected to public office in the country will be the guest speaker at the Feb. 25 Pride banquet. That announcement was one of the highlights of the most recent meeting of the President’s Commission on LGBT Concerns, Jan. 21 at Oxford College.

Kecia Cunningham, City of Decatur commissioner, will speak at the banquet, which begins at 6:30 p.m. in Cox Hall. The Office of LGBT Life will handle ticketing, which will be $5 for students and $10 for faculty/staff.

As this was the commission’s lone scheduled meeting for the Oxford campus, several members of the Oxford community attended. They heard a motion that would mandate at least one Oxford member on the LGBT commission. The motion received overwhelming support. It will be presented again next month, as stated in the bylaws, for a vote.

The policies and procedures committee made several recommendations for commission consideration. They included:

• asking the University Senate that an LGBT member sit on its fringe-benefits committee.

• creating a communication link that would give the committee an opportunity to become more involved with routine revisions to the University’s Policies and Procedures Manual.

• encouraging the University to contract with companies that have LGBT-supportive policies,

• sending a letter to departments asking them to remain mindful of LGBT issues when revising policies and publications.

• investigating the possibility of creating a web-based communication link between the commission and Emory’s LGBT community.

Chair Kathy McKee said the President’s Commission on the Status of Minorities is seeking cosponsorship for its spring symposium, March 3–4, “Diversity as Value-Added.” The commission agreed to contribute.

McKee also said that a new program offering discounts for AAA membership to Emory employees and family members originally did not include domestic partners. When informed of this, Human Resources contacted AAA, and domestic partners were added to the benefit.

The next LGBT meeting will be held Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 5:30 p.m. in 400 Administration.

If you have a question for LGBT, send e-mail to Chair Kathy McKee at kmckee@emory.edu.




 

 

 

 

 

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