On Tuesday May 24th, The Observer ran a story featuring the LGBT Student Scholarship recipients Sam Cho ND ’18 and Maranda Pennington SMC ’17. In the article, each talked about their community service project giving back to the LGBT community at the two schools.
As GALA Chair Jack Bergen stated about the importance of the scholarship, “Notre Dame’s Catholic identity creates a “unique environment” for LGBTQ students and alumni. We’re not looking to change Notre Dame’s foundation in the faith that it relies upon, but we’d like to see them embrace LGBTQ individuals more, especially as it relates to being whole individuals and supporting them just as any other member of the Notre Dame community.”
Also, Bergen discussed the need for Notre Dame to recognize it’s LGBT alumni “It’s great that the University recognizes LGBTQ students and supports them within the undergraduate community…but once they graduate, they’ve lost that support from the University,” he said. “We’re looking to encourage them to continue to support the LGBTQ community.”
To read the full article, go to: GALA ND/SMC Awards LGBTQ Scholarships.