In these often-divisive times, it can probably feel easier — and safer — to hide away our true selves from those who would judge us negatively for daring to be different. It takes an outrageous amount of courage to boldly stand out from the mainstream and stand up for others, who — like you — who are being persecuted for being true to themselves.
Dr. Bridget Brooks, an instructional designer for the University of North Dakota’s Teaching Transformation and Development Academy and active member of UND United, vividly remembers the moment when the courage of her colleagues emboldened her to step up for herself and for others.
“I’d been a UND employee in a couple of different ways, and when I came back at this position, I was looking at the website and seeing things that had changed across campus,” Brooks said.
“One of those things was the (Faculty and Staff) OUTlist. There is an OUTlist on the UND website where staff and faculty have said, ‘Hey, you can share my name and my picture, so that people know that I am out.’”
That was kind of overwhelming for me. So, I sat at my new desk, and the tears just started flowing down my face like, wow, this is huge … just looking at those faculty and staff that had the courage to say, ‘Hey, you know what, I’m gay, I’m a member of UND’s staff, and I’m going to put my name out here.’”
From that moment, Brooks was inspired to be bold and give back to her community at UND. And so, she and her wife, Jody, brainstormed and came up with the idea of establishing an endowment to support UND’s Pride Center, which is the only LGBTQ+ center at an institution of higher learning in the state.
“Anybody can go into the Pride Center,” Brooks said. “It’s not just inclusive if you’re a member of the LGBTQ community – it’s there for everybody. If you're an ally, you can go into that space and you can take part in the programming and those kinds of things. You don't even have to be a UND student because it's a public institution. You can go in there and you can spend time in that welcoming space.”
The couple approached the UND Alumni Association to set up the LGBTQ+ Endowment, and guaranteed $25,000 in donations within five years, or they would personally pay whatever difference they couldn’t raise. They have already surpassed that goal in a little over one year, and now the new milestone is to raise $100,000 within five years.
Brooks said she feels incredibly grateful to everyone who has helped them to make the endowment successful so quickly, including the expert help of the Alumni Association and all of their donors.
“Their kindness has been overwhelming at times,” she said. “This is our future, and UND is so blessed to have a Pride Center on campus, so I just think it's important to keep getting the word out there to get the donations.”
Click Here to Donate to LGBTQ+ Endowment
In recognition of all the amazing work that Bridget has done within the LGBTQ+ community, she was selected as both this year’s winner of the Cheryl Terrance Award and as grand marshal for the first-ever Grand Forks Pride Parade. When asked what these honors meant to her personally, she said it was huge because of how much Terrance — a longtime UND psychology professor and dedicated faculty advisor to the campus 10% Society — meant to her as a friend and ally.
“She just did so much that she didn't have to do, and she took time with people and accepted them for who they were and always took the time to make you feel included.”
Brooks says that, if asked for advice or guidance from anyone out there, from any background, race, culture, gender or identity, who wants to help but has been made to feel powerless or alone, she would offer them this one word: courage.
“For many years, I might have been alone in standing up and speaking my mind,” she said. “But when you stand up and have courage, it gives other people courage, too.
“I wrote the word ‘courage’ on a piece of paper and put it in my office window. You’d be surprised — when you stand up, people see it, and they want to stand with you. … Even me standing up and saying, ‘Hey, I’m gay, but I’m also a person,’ can bring change.”
