NY Event Launches New Duke LGBT Network

President Richard H. Brodhead, Duke alumnus and former trustee Tom Clark (pictured above) and more than 150 people helped kickoff the new Duke LGBT Network June 2 at the Lehmann Maupin Gallery in New York City.

The network is dedicated to serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community of the university and involves students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends of Duke. The Duke Alumni Association helped sponsor the kickoff.

The event included comments by Clark, a member of the LBGT Network Steering Committee and a past president of the Duke Alumni Association, and Janie Long, director of Duke's Center for LGBT Life.

Clark, Trinity '69, received the Charles A. Dukes Award one of the alumni association's top awards for volunteer service.

He was honored for his work as DAA president and for efforts to established the DAA's first Diversity Inclusion Committee, which promotes outreach to underserved groups of alumni.

"This kick-off event is an extraordinary example of how Duke alumni want to remain connected to each other, and to the campus community," said Kyle Knight, communications chair for the Duke LGBT Network. "President Brodhead's presence at the event sends a strong message about the priority that the University places on advancing an inclusive and supportive Duke community."

Credit Suisse underwrote the event through the effort of alumnus and steering committee member Todd Sears, Trinity '98.

Brodhead encouraged the network to play a valuable role in Duke life through building connections between students, alumni and others and by serving as an advocate on campus.

For more information about the network, click here.