Scholarship benefit stirs emotions

Tears fell on the stage, and at every table in Pierson Auditorium, as three students stood before a sold-out audience to tell their personal stories of why the UMKC LGBTQIA Pride Empowerment scholarship program is so important and necessary.

Caleb-Michael Files talked of being shipped off to a camp after declaring his homosexuality to his adoptive family, where “counselors” attempted to “cure” him through prayer. Kalaa Wilkerson described how her family told her that her sexual orientation was caused by her mother’s death from breast cancer, and was a “phase” that she would outgrow. Chris Haywood chose to express his experiences through a reading of “The Jewelry Store,” a poem by Andrea Gibson.

Their emotionally charged remembrances drew a standing ovation, as did other elements of the program, including a performance by HeartAches, an ensemble of the Heartland Men’s Chorus, and a keynote address by Jim Wanser, associate director of the UMKC Counseling, Health and Testing Center.

The occasion was the fifth annual Pride Empowerment Scholarship Breakfast, an event that is the primary source of funding for the scholarship program.  The university’s Pride Empowerment Assistance Fund provides immediate financial assistance to students who are experiencing financial difficulty due to loss of support from family.  Kristi Ryujin, assistant vice chancellor for diversity, access and equity, said this event was the largest ever in terms of ticket sales, and sold out in record time.

“Today, we celebrate the lives and the contributions of our LGBTQIA students to our campus, our community, our nation and our world,” Ryujin said.

Wanser has been a member of the UMKC community for more than 30 years, and was the faculty advisor for the original student LGBT group formed in the 1970s. He said UMKC’s LGBTQIA community should be proud of its contributions, and proud of the university for providing recognition and acceptance.

“We have come a very, very long way,” he said. “We have made UMKC a better institution.”

The college experience, he said, often plays a critical role in the self-acceptance process for maturing LGBTQIA young people.

“High school was about fitting in, and for those who were different, it was oppressive. College opened me to people who were different, open, intelligent and accepting,” Wanser said. “College was my safe haven and it taught me that other people who were different were out there; I was not alone. It was a huge gift.”

While celebrating the strides made over the past 30 years, Wanser said he still has a “bucket list” of steps yet to be taken. That list includes:

• Domestic partner benefits for university employees
• Universal inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in all non-discrimination laws
• Closing off dialogue with repressive religious groups
• “taking inclusion of transgender people to the next level”
• Making sure that money spent on diversity programs has real impact.

Wanser also called on the audience to “always question the makeup of your diversity committees … find those with real passion and then tolerate some of the mess” that results.

To donate to the Pride Empowerment Assistance Fund, call 816-235-6704 for information;  or send a check to UMKC Pride Empowerment Fund, UMKC Division of Diversity, Access and Equity, Attention: Kristi Ryujin, 359 Administrative Center, 5100 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, Mo. 64110-2499.