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Compiled by GayToday
 Washington, D.C.-- A gay couple made history in higher
education philanthropy Wednesday as they announced their $2-million contribution
to their alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania (PENN), at a campus
event celebrating National Coming Out Day.
David Goodhand and partner Vincent Griski's generosity served as the lead gift to renovate Carriage House, a historic campus structure that will house the University's Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Center -- one of the oldest and most active in U.S. higher education. Their gift is the first and largest of its kind to directly benefit an LGBT campus community, and it officially kicks off a $5-million fundraising campaign to complete the Center's construction and endow its programs. "Our gift expresses our warm memories of PENN, where our relationship began, and in our belief in the limitless possibilities for lesbian and gay people," says Goodhand. "The University provided an open, safe environment that allowed us to grow as individuals and in our relationship together. It is a rare pleasure for us to be able to give back in such a meaningful way, and we applaud President Rodin's and Provost Barchi's commitment to continue a long-standing legacy that welcomes and affirms a diverse campus community."
"And now as their friend, I'm proud to represent an immensely grateful university community and thank them for this important gift in the lives of LGBT students, faculty and staff at their alma mater." The benefactors were joined by National Coming Out Day Rally spokesman for 2000 and openly gay former major league baseball player Billy Bean, Human Rights Campaign Director Elizabeth Birch and National Coming Out Day Project Director Candace Gingrich--all of whom delivered brief remarks on the Project's push to encourage the LGBT community to vote in the upcoming elections. About Vincent Griski and David Goodhand David R. Goodhand, 37, retired from Microsoft Corporation a few years ago. Life partner Vincent J. Griski, 36, is a former Wall Street vice president and financial analyst and is an at-home parent to their son, Christopher, who is two. David designed e-mail and Internet products for Microsoft. For a time, Vincent worked in Microsoft's treasury department. The couple met in 1983 while undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania, and has been in a committed relationship ever since their PENN days. They are actively involved in local and national politics and in philanthropic projects that closely mirror their ideals and beliefs. About Dr. Robert Schoenberg Robert Schoenberg has directed the LGBT Center at the University of Pennsylvania since its 1982 inception. The Center has been recognized as one of the oldest and most active of its kind in the nation. An author, lecturer and scholar, Dr. Schoenberg edited the collection Homosexuality and Social Work published by Haworth Press. He is author, with Ronni Sanlo (UCLA) and Sue Rankin (Penn State), of Our Place on Campus, a book about services and programs for LGBT communities at colleges and universities, which is forthcoming from Greenwood Press in 2001. Dr. Schoenberg currently serves as Chair of the National Consortium of Directors of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resources in Higher Education. A community activist for many years, Dr. Schoenberg served on Philadelphia's first mayoral Commission on Sexual Minorities; was Chair of the Board of Directors of the Eromin Center, which provided counseling services to sexual and gender minorities; and was a founder, and first Board President, of ActionAIDS, now Pennsylvania's largest HIV service organization. He has twice coordinated the campus track at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Creating Change conference, has made frequent presentations and workshops at national meetings and has served as a consultant to several institutions of higher learning. Dr. Schoenberg holds the B.A. degree in English Literature from the University of Rochester, and the master and doctoral degrees from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work. About the LGBT Center at PENN The LGBT Center at the University of Pennsylvania is among the country's oldest and most active campus centers. In 2002, the Center will celebrate two decades of its mission to increase the PENN community's understanding and acceptance of its sexual and gender minority members. The Center features myriad programs for PENN's LGBT campus community, including outreach and education, special events and public forums, a research and reading room, advocacy, social networking, ongoing communications, individual and organizational support.
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