GLBT Alumni Council to honor two distinguished graduates

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Alumni Council of the Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA) will present its annual Distinguished Alumni Awards to two alumni on Sunday, July 18.

This year’s award winners are Brenda Marston, a recipient of master’s degrees in 1985 and 1988 who is now curator of the human sexuality collection at Cornell University Library, and Howard Sweet, a philanthropist who received a bachelor’s degree in 1967.

The awards will be given at the GLBT Alumni Council’s Distinguished Alumni Brunch during Pride Week at the UW. The event is open to the public and will be held from 10 a.m.-noon at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St.

Each year, the GLBT Alumni Council honors graduates who have shown an exemplary commitment to the GLBT community, and who have demonstrated excellence in their life’s work as a self-identified GLBT person or ally.

As curator of Cornell University’s human sexuality collection, Marston has collected resources that document the GLBT experience in American history. Sweet is a past co-chair of the GLBT Alumni Council, and was a founding board member of the New Harvest Foundation. He’s currently an attorney with Hurley, Burish & Milliken in Madison.

Brunch tickets are $20 per person, and the registration deadline is Monday, July 12. To register, contact P.J. Hoesly at (608) 262-9646 or visit the GLBTAC website. Proceeds benefit the GLBT Alumni Council Scholarship Fund.

WAA has been serving UW–Madison and its graduates since 1861. WAA provides an array of services, including On Wisconsin, a quarterly alumni magazine; student scholarships; the student-run UW Homecoming Committee; alumni affiliate groups such as the GLBT Alumni Council; and an extensive alumni lifelong learning program, including the annual Founders’ Day program and Grandparents’ University.