Donors' gift helps U. gays

Part of the $250,000 will establish Penn's first gay targeted scholarship. Many facets of the University's gay community will soon receive a boost, fueled by a $250,000 donation from a gay couple who made their fortunes with Microsoft and Goldman Sachs. About $100,000 of the donation will go toward establishing the first Penn scholarship specifically targeting gay and lesbian students. Another $100,000 will fund general financial aid. And the remaining $50,000 will name a room in Perelman Quadrangle for the gay and lesbian community. The two donors, domestic partners who live in Seattle, cite their "positive experiences" at Penn as the reason they have maintained an active involvement in the University, particularly its gay community. College graduate David Goodhand returns to campus often and still reminisces about the "intellectual experience," the friends he made living in Hill House and the urban contrast to growing up in rural Pennsylvania. He admits that his memories are colored by the love he found in 1985 with Wharton graduate Vincent Griski, who has lived with him since their years in Stouffer College House. Goodhand and Griski hoped their donation, announced Homecoming Weekend, would spawn similar gestures from other gay graduates. Already, an anonymous donor has matched their gift with $50,000 for financial aid. The couple has received "highly positive" feedback from members of the University community, including University President Judith Rodin, the Office of Alumni Affairs and University Trustees, according to Goodhand. Lesbian Gay Bisexual Center Director Bob Schoenberg called the donation "an extremely positive development" for the gay community. "I frankly think that there's quite a bit of money out there that the University might be able to access from alumni if they knew that it was being used to support gay programs," Schoenberg said. But gifts from gay alumni are not always welcomed -- especially if they involve "conditions" as to how the money is spent, Schoenberg added. While "some" institutions have similar scholarships available for lesbian and gay students, he cited Yale University's refusal of alumnus and AIDS activist Larry Kramer's offer of his $5 million estate in exchange for establishing two endowed chairs in gay and lesbian studies. And other institutions have objected to starting gay-lesbian alumni networks in fear that it might offend older alumni. But, according to Goodhand, Penn's response to his donation has been "eye-opening." "I came in with a perception that I shouldn't really trust the administration or Trustees," he said. "And maybe I'm older or maybe my perception was just wrong, but they really do care about the University." Goodhand and Griski have have also pledged $10,000 to the LGBC, and have expressed a desire to support the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Alliance, which is currently in debt. "Vincent and I met at a LGAP [Lesbians and Gays at Penn, the LGBA's predecessor] dance, and it seems the LGBA now is a little hard-pressed for money," Goodhand said. Although the couple has not donated money to the LGBA for fear of jeopardizing its funding from the Student Activities Council, Schoenberg said he was "aware" of their intention.