Lavender Graduation 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
5:00-8:00pm, Copley Formal
We were delighted to host a joint reception to honor and welcome our LGBTQ and ally Alumni to John Carroll Weekend and to honor and celebrate the achievements and contributions of our LGBTQ and ally seniors at the 2010 Lavender Graduation.
2010 KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Kara Swisher (F’84) is co-executive editor of D: All Things Digital, a technology news column, blog, and annual conference owned by Dow-Jones news, with articles and content appearing regularly in The Wall Street Journal. Along with her co-Executive Editor Walt Mossberg, she also currently co-produces and co-hosts the D: All Things Digital annual conference, a major high-tech conference with interviewees such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and other leaders in the tech and media industries. Mossberg and Swisher work as independent contractors only to Dow-Jones, to avoid conflicts of interest. In 2009, she began contributing technology business segments to National Public Radio.
Kara started covering digital issues for The Wall Street Journal’s San Francisco bureau in 1997. Her column “BoomTown” originally appeared on the front page of the Marketplace section of the Journal, covering news about the technology and internet industry. She also wrote a weekly column for the Personal Journal on home gadget issues called Home Economics.
Kara is also the author of AOL.com: How Steve Case Beat Bill Gates, Nailed the Netheads and Made Millions in the War for the Web, published by Times Business Books in 1998, and its sequel, There Must Be a Pony in Here Somewhere: The AOL Time Warner Debacle and the Quest for a Digital Future, published in 2003 by Crown Business Books.
Previously, she worked as a staff reporter at the Washington Post from 1989 until late 1996, when she was recruited by Walt Mossberg to do technology reporting from The Wall Street Journal’s Silicon Valley office. While at The Washington Post, she reported on theatre, entertainment, technology, and issues affecting women and the LGBTQ community of the Washington, DC area.
Kara lives in San Francisco with her wife Megan Smith, Senior Vice President of New Business at Google, and also general manager of Google.org, the company’s philanthropic venture. The couple became domestic partners in 2001, and were legally married in 2008. They have two sons, Louis and Alexander.
Kara is a graduate of Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service (F’84) and the Columbia School of Journalism. While at Georgetown, she was a student athlete and a contributor to The Hoya.
2010 LAVENDER GRADUATION PROGRAM
Welcome
Todd Olson Ph.D.
Vice President, Division of Student Affairs
President’s Remarks
John J. DeGioia Ph.D. (COL ‘79, GRAD ’95)
President, Georgetown University
Introduction of Keynote Speaker
Rosemary Kilkenny, Esq.
Vice President, Institutional Diversity, Equity & Affirmative Action
Keynote Speaker
Kara Swisher (F ‘84)
Co-Executive Editor of D: All Things Digital, The Wall Street Journal
Presentation of Awards
Amelia Di Stefano, J.C. Hodges, Kristina Mitchell, Adam Talbot
Graduation Remarks
Sivagami Subbaraman
Director, LGBTQ Resource Center
Recognition of Graduates
Matthew LeBlanc
Program Coordinator, LGBTQ Resource Center
Dinner and Reception
2010 CELEBRATION PARTNERS
- Office of the President
- Office of the Provost
- Georgetown University Law Center
- McDonough School of Business
- Office of Mission & Ministry
- Office of Faculty & Staff Benefits
- Division of Student Affairs
2010 AWARD RECIPIENTS
COMMITMENT TO THE LGBTQ CAMPUS COMMUNITY
Presented to: Scott Chessare
This award recognizes ‘excellence in leadership and inspiring others for a better Georgetown. Scott has been a consistent leader to the community throughout his time at Georgetown. A central figure in the Out for Change campaign and a former co-chair of GU Pride, he played a crucial role in the proposal and creation of the LGBTQ resource center. His passion, accessibility, and warmth have benefitted everyone in the Georgetown family, and he leaves the campus an infinitely more affirming place than when he found it.
LGBTQ LEADERSHIP BEYOND THE GATES
Presented to: Marion Cory
This award recognizes significant work in education, service, and advocacy for a better Georgetown and beyond. Marion’s work spans multiple continents. From her work with the transgendered population in Ecuador to her time at the Human Rights Campaign right here in DC, this recipients work beyond Georgetown’s gates reveals a sophisticated and passionate understanding of the issues that LGBTQ people face around the world and that unite us as a community.
LGBTQ BRIDGE BUILDER
Presented to: Olivia Chitayat
This award recognizes excellence in integrating the LGBTQ perspective into the broader Georgetown community by building connections across campus. Olivia always played an instrumental and constructive roll in events and initiatives such as Gender Liberation Week, Sex Positive Week, the Out For Change Campaign, and Expressions of a Better Georgetown. She is also a dedicated advocate of environmental activism within the scientific community here at Georgetown. This award recognizes her tireless efforts to change attitudes and create a more welcoming and inclusive campus community.
OUTSTANDING ALLY TO THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY
Presented to: Jheanelle Brown
This award recognizes the courage to promote equality among ALL communities here at Georgetown. Jheanelle consistently and visibly supported the LGBTQ community and advocated on its behalf for her entire four years, both in the classroom and in her capacity as a student leader. She has thoughtfully provoked conversations around the intersection of race and sexuality, and has been integral in efforts to incorporate the LGBTQ perspective in groups that otherwise would not have been reached.
FACULTY/STAFF COMMITMENT TO THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY
Presented to: Danielle DeSilvis
This award recognizes a staff member’s excellence in leadership and inspiring others for a better Georgetown. Danielle worked hard to promote unbiased and LGBTQ-friendly sexual health education. She has bettered the Georgetown community by making sure resources are available to meet LGBTQ students’ needs and worked to organize important student programming like Sexual Responsibility Week. She is an ally in the workplace and the classroom.