A welcoming campus

A gay couple's $2 million donation to the University, the first of its kind in higher education, will go a long way toward making the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Center a more integral part of the campus landscape. We could not be more pleased that David Goodhand and Vincent Griski, both 1985 College graduates, had a positive enough experience as gay men at Penn that they would give back to the community. They met at a dance while undergraduates and lived together as an openly gay couple, and their generosity will help others be as open, too. Specifically, their donation will provide LGBT students with a larger space of their own and enable the University to renovate the 103-year-old Carriage House for the benefit of the entire student body. And while individual experiences may vary, this donation is just the latest sign of Penn's progressive attitude toward the concerns of sexual minorities. Back in 1992, the University allowed same-sex couples to use housing that had previously been reserved for married students. Penn was also one of the first universities to extend employee benefits to domestic partners. And today, Penn boasts an active LGBT community, with a strong institutional framework in the Queer Student Alliance, within which an increasing number of students feel comfortable publicly acknowledging their sexual orientation. Goodhand and Griski deserve our thanks for adding financial support to their personal involvement with Penn's LGBT Center, and the administration should be recognized for its continued efforts to make Penn a welcoming environment for all of its students.

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