FUND FOR REUNION/PRINCETON BTGALA
A Non-profit Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Princeton Alumni, Students, Faculty and Staff
P.O. Box 1481, Princeton, New Jersey 08542
| NEWS FROM THE FUND FOR REUNION/PRINCETON BTGALA A Non-profit Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Princeton Alumni, Students, Faculty and Staff P.O. Box 1481, Princeton, New Jersey 08542 |
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| Volume X, No. 1 | Fall, 1996 |
The times are indeed changing.... What was once a novelty to those of us no longer in academia is now an active part of many of our lives. For many of us, e-mail has begun to replace the US Postal Service, and the World Wide Web has become a marvelous place to explore. Not surprisingly, it's becoming a vibrant center for the gay community. Princeton also has not lagged behind in this exciting technology. So if you find yourself out in the ether, here are a few useful web addresses!
As part of Princeton University's 250x250 Campaign, we sponsored 50% of an internship at Quilombo. Quilombo is a private, community-based, non-profit organization focusing on education. The job of the intern, Suman Chakraborty '97, would be related to runaway l/g/b/t youth, focusing on why they run away, what they are running to, and ways in which communities in general, and schools in specific, can best respond to their needs. In our next newsletter, we will have an article on Suman's findings.
This fall, FFR will renew our efforts to generate activities for those of you that are not necessarily in the Princeton area.
As a way to begin, we are coordinating small cocktail parties at the homes of FFR members in four cities. These will hopefully fulfill two goals: bringing l/g/b/t Princeton alumni together to network and socialize, as well as bringing in additional funds for the important work we are doing. Suggested donations will vary, but should be in the $25 range.
We hope to expand this over the year to cover more areas. If you are interested in hosting an event in your home, let us know!
We're looking for great ideas and people willing to help see them come true!
Though in the past we've focused on big events with high-priced tickets, we are also interested in smaller, less expensive events in the interest of balancing broader participation with income.
Please contact us if you would like to get involved in this vital part of FFR.
P.S. We are particularly interested in events that will spark the interest of the women in our organization!
This was our 10th Reunion, and we were not about to let it go by quietly... Thanks to the incredible efforts of David Beaty '50, Bob Hotes '85, and Philip Mahin '85, our opening night of musical entertainment went beautifully. Lesbian rocker Shawna J gave a spirited performance that identified her as a performer to watch out for. Cliff Townsend gave the kind of cabaret performance we've come to expect from the former Flirtations member.
Saturday morning, FFR board member and academian Mark Blasius gave a well-received talk on LGB issues in academia.
Our reception and meeting in Betts Auditorium after the P-Rade had a typical attendance. Our dance later that evening was a lot of fun, with perhaps our largest alumni turn-out ever!
An attempt to amend Hawaii's constitution to prohibit gay marriages passed in the house but failed in the senate by a very close margin. This upcoming election will either maintain this or allow the conservatives to pass the amendment as opponents of the amendment fight to stay in office. For more information, please contact the Alliance for Equal Rights, 2139 Chamberlain Street, Honolulu 96822, 808-955-5162.
Although the University Library's catalogs bear witness to a long-standing practice of acquiring materials of interest to students on sexual orientation and gender identity, there has been no concentrated effort to collect such items until recently
In 1988, as a General & Humanities Reference Librarian, I began occasionally to recommend purchase of LGBT titles. In 1991, I was officially assigned responsibilities for: "advisement" to the Library's bibliographers and selectors in subject areas relevant to LGBT Studies; the preparation of bibliographic guides to our LGBT resources; specialized reference and research consultation; and Library liaison with the campus LGBT communities.
Last December I was at last given a small ("starter") fund to manage, along with the title of Gay & Lesbian [& Bisexual & Transgender] Studies Selector. In May, the Library's first LGBT collection development policy statement was approved. The material effects of this initiative have been gratifying: since 1989, the number of current LGBT periodical subscriptions has increased from three to twenty; and while the old card catalog contains records for about 400 nonfiction LGBT books and serials, the on-line catalog of materials cataloged since 1979 now lists nearly 2000 such titles. The url for the library's LGBT website is: http://infoshare1.princeton.edu:2003/online/guide/mm/lg.html
The new Gay & Lesbian Studies fund is small (an annual base budget of less than $2000), so I rely heavily on the cooperation of colleagues in the Reference and Collection Development Department, some of whom have enthusiastically supported my efforts to build our LGBT collection from a good one into an excellent one. Among us we are succeeding in acquiring most current materials as they are published -- demonstrably better in fact than all but a handful of other research institutions.
Historically, LGBT acquisition at Princeton has been erratic, and there have been some disappointing losses of materials (this seems particularly true of materials published in the 1970s). Therefore I would like to solicit your help in strengthening our retrospective collection through your donation to the University library of LGBT works that we do not presently own.
If you have books (or substantial runs of serials) that you think we might want, or if you would like to see a copy of the Gay and Lesbian Studies collection development policy statement (yes, fiction is included, and erotica is acquired "selectively"), please contact me:
Michael Montgomery
c/o GHRD, Firestone Library
| Operating Fund | |
| Opening Balance | $7,103.52 |
| Income | |
| Dues | 1,755.00 |
| Other Contributions | 937.00 |
| Events | 315.00 |
| Expenses | |
| LGBA | 1,223.85 |
| Scholarships | 538.50 |
| Reunions | 2,416.78 |
| Newsletter | 1,030.89 |
| Summer Internship | 1,250.00 |
| Other Events | 67.06 |
| Transfer to Endowment | 967.32 |
| Other Expenses | 34.70 |
| Closing Balance | $ 2,581.42 |
|
Endowment | |
| Opening Balance | $15,118.35 |
| Transfers (Footnote 1) | 967.32 |
| Net Gain/Loss | 1,607.72 |
| Closing Balance | $17,693.39 |
Notes:
Our business year runs from Reunions to Reunions.
This past year was characterized by a lot of funding and little fundraising. Though our Operating fund had a healthy balance at the start of the year, we now are down to a minimum balance, so the coming year will have to pay for itself. We are not in trouble, but this should serve as a wake up call.
Footnote 1 - At the end of a fiscal year FFR periodically transfers a portion of any positive Operating Fund net income to the endowment Fund. The FY 1995 transfer reflects Operating Fund net gains from FY 1994. Since FY 1995 shows a net loss, there will be no such transfer in FY 1996
Contacting Us:
We can be reached at:
Fund for Reunion/Princeton BTGALA, P. O. Box 1481, Princeton, NJ 08542
For faster response, send e-mail to
Fund for Reunion
You can sign up for FFR/Princeton BTGALA using our mail form.
This document was last modified on September 27, 2003.