Spring 2016
January 14, 2016
UAB junior Calvin Colvin was the recipient of the Alliance Scholarship in Spring 2016. Calvin who was awarded $1,000, is the sixth recipient of this scholarship, which has been granting awards since 2011.
On January 12th 2016, Mr. Colvin received this award in recognition for his valuable contribution to the LGBT community. Dr. Watts was present during the reception, acknowledging the importance of this award.
Calvin was the first student to apply for this scholarship with a perfect 4.0 GPA, has made the President’s List, and is in the Experiential Learning Scholars Program. Calvin has been actively involved with the Gender and Sexuality Union (GSU), UAB’s LGBTQ student organization, holding multiple positions and playing an integral role in the restructuring of the organization.
Calvin has also been very actively involved with UAB’s SafeZone Peer Educator Program, currently serves as the Lead Peer Educator for SafeZone, and has rewritten much of the SafeZone curriculum. Thanks to his efforts, the average number of participants in SafeZone Peer Educator trainings has skyrocketed.
Ultimately, Calvin, a Sociology major, plans to earn a Ph.D. in Epidemiology and plans to investigate how the social standing of people from marginalized groups impacts their health and to find information that can be useful in combating health disparities.
Summer 2016
August 5, 2016
The Alliance for LGBTQ Equality at UAB is pleased to announce the first transgender recipient of the Alliance for LGBT Equality at UAB Scholarship. The recipient, who has requested to remain anonymous, is a senior in the Collat School of Business. The scholarship is in the amount of $1,000.
The recipient, who has a 3.8 G.P.A, is currently pursuing a Business Management degree and hopes to work in the field building teams. Their true passion, however, is writing, and they have a long-term career goal to write full-time. The recipient, an Eagle Scout, has received many honors from the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). During their tenure in the BSA, they have worked to make the organization more welcoming and, through personal communication, to help scouts in need of a resource and a confidant. Additionally, they have also become actively involved in UAB’s support group for gender non-conforming students.
More recently, they initiated an effort to raise awareness within UAB’s Student Housing and Residential Life about safety issues for gender non-conforming students which had not yet been addressed. Toward this end, they brought together several of UAB’s departments, raising awareness and convincing them to take the first steps towards resolving this issue. According to one author of a Letter of Recommendation, the recipient has stated repeatedly “that their primary goal is ensuring that incoming students will not have to go through what they have and will feel fully supported and safe on campus.