Diversity, politics and LGBT issues will be the topics of discussion when former U.S. congresswoman Sabrina Sojourner delivers the keynote address tonight in Walter Hall Rotunda as part of PRIDE week.
The first openly lesbian congresswoman, Sojourner represented the District of Columbia in the U.S. House of Representatives. With decades of activism and dedication to her community, Sojourner will bring a poignant, timely message to Ohio University, said Gretchen Cataline, LGBT Affairs commissioner for Student Senate.
She can apply to people all over the campus and community
so her coming presents a wonderful opportunity for different groups of people to come together and hear a powerful message she said. The keynote address definitely has mass appeal.
The free event is anticipated to meld a variety of disciplines and is the product of efforts by many different groups, including Student Senate, the Department of Residence Life, LGBT Programs Center, Ohio University Democrats, and the African-American studies and political science departments.
She can speak to diversity she can speak to politics
she can speak to LGBT issues
she can speak to African American studies
Cataline said. There is so much to (Sojourner) and so much she can offer.
Mickey Hart, Assistant Director of Campus Life for the LGBT Programs Center, also thinks Sojourner will bring together a multifaceted crowd, he said.
I'm excited about all speakers that come to campus
but with Sabrina Sojourner
we have a lesbian
a former congresswoman and an African American
he said. She has quite a unique perspective.
Sojourner, who also is author of a collection of poems and narratives entitled Psychic Scars and Other Mad Thoughts
has continued her work post-Congress as a management consultant and lecturer tackling the topics of education, diversity, HIV/AIDS prevention and education. Her continued efforts add to the huge amount of information she has to offer, Hart said.
With the keynote address falling beyond the halfway point of PRIDE Week 2006 Express Yourself
