Equality VCU Honors Three Recipients at Burnside Watstein Awards

By Alexandra Klingelhut

The VCU community honored three of its members earlier this semester at the seventh annual Burnside Watstein LGBT Awards, an event that highlights the efforts and accomplishments of those impacting VCU’s LGBTQQIAA staff, faculty, students and the community outside VCU.

This year’s award winners were Hermelinda Cortes, Tracey Gendron and Elizabeth Cramer. Equality VCU, formerly known as the LGBT subcommittee of VCU’s Equity and Diversity Committee, held the award ceremony.

“As a completely volunteer group, we’d like to think that we serve as a collaborative advisory and advocacy body, representing the aspirations and concerns of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual peoples and their allies,” said Faith Wilkerson, co-chair of Equality VCU. “We serve to advance the university’s strong commitment to fully realizing the many benefits of our diversity.”

Beverley Warren, Ed.D., Ph.D., provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, attended the award ceremony and spoke about the importance of diversity on campus.

“There has never been a more important year than this year to celebrate those who advocate, those who offer support, those who develop programs and those who show us each and every day by the very key and critical work they do that the inclusive environment is truly an environment that prepares all of us to have impact on this world,” she said.

Wanda Mitchell, Ed.D., the first appointed vice president for diversity and equity, praised the award recipients for their efforts in making a significant difference in the lives of the LGBT community, faculty, staff and students. She asked that everyone partner together to make things happen, to “make it real.”

The first award recipient was Hermelinda Cortes, a VCU alumna and field organizer for the Southerners on New Ground (SONG) movement. Elizabeth Canfield, assistant professor of Gender Sexuality and Women’s Studies, nominated Cortes. She describes Cortes as an activist and the main movement behind SONG’s introduction to Richmond. SONG is a regional Queer Liberation organization made up of people of color, immigrants, undocumented people, people with disabilities, working class and rural and small town LGBTQ people in the south.

“I accept this in honor of all the work that remains unrecognized, but keeps our movement going, growing, fermenting and fed,” Cortes said. “I accept this for those who have lost, for those who have not been found. We will liberate ourselves.”

Tracey Gendron, assistant professor in the Department of Gerontology, received the second award. Jay White, director of professional and community development for the VCU Department of Gerontology, nominated Gendron. The award recognized her efforts in establishing a curriculum and training for individuals on the unique issues of the aging LGBT population. Her concern towards the elderly LGBT has formed a widely used curriculum in caring for aging LGBT.

“We are continuing to move this mission forward and I am so excited that I have been part of it,” said Gendron.

Elizabeth Cramer, professor of the VCU School of Social Work, received the final award. Canfield and Phillip Edwards, instructional consultant at the VCU Center for Teaching Excellence, nominated Cramer for the award.

“You can see the positive results of Liz Cramer’s work everywhere, not only on VCU’s campus but in our community. Her ‘Lesbian and Bisexual Women’ course was really groundbreaking and opened the door for so many other courses,” said Canfield, describing it as the first “out” course at VCU.

The Burnside Watstein LGBT Awards commemorate Chris Burnside and Sarah Watstein. They were considered leaders of the LGBT committee at VCU prior to an official organization. The community recognizes them as pioneers in the LGBT movement at VCU.

Donna Coghill, co-chair of Equality VCU and a past award recipient, summed up the ceremony with her closing remarks. “We’re lucky to be together. We have each other, and that’s all that matters.”

 

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