Welcome to LGBTQ Alumni Association!
The purpose of our group is to help encourage connections among our alumni and to offer opportunities and support to current LGBTQ students. To learn more about how to get involved with this alumni association, please join our mailing list by CLICKING HERE
Get social: 
BOARD MEMBERS
President: Jenna Pel (’13)
Vice President: Glynda McGinnis (’89, MA ’91)
Treasurer: Stacy Peterson (’08)
Secretary: Shawn Kuehn (’10, MBA ’16)
Director, Events: Jennifer Graves (MA ’08)
Director, Scholarship & Emergency Crisis Aid: P. Tim Martindell (MED ’04, EDD ’12)
2020 – 2021 Board of Directors
Jenna Pel (she/hers), President, is a Middle School Humanities teacher. She has served as President of the UH LGBTQ Alumni Association since 2018. A forever Coog, she is driven to give back to LGBTQIA+ University of Houston students and alumni.
Glynda McGinnis (she/her), Vice President, is a Business Liaison Consultant in the Financial Services industry working on Root Cause Analysis of customer complaints working to identify systemic problems involving People, Processes or Technology. She has been serving as an Ally to the LGBTQ community for four decades. She is passionate about helping people bring their entire selves to school, work and their community. As an ally she supports my adopted community as well as work to bring awareness, openness and acceptance to those who have not yet experienced the love and open arms she has received from the LGBTQ community for the last 42 years.
Stacy Peterson (she/hers)Treasurer, is a Medical Dosimetrist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. She serves on the University of Houston LGBTQ Alumni Association, because I want to be a part of something bigger than myself. I’m so proud to be a member of one of the many UH alumni networks that collectively are working toward putting an end to the isolation LGTBQ+ students and alumni may feel, and in turn, are a part of promoting their success.
Shawn Kuehn (he/his), Secretary, has served on the UH LGBTQ Alumni Association Board of Directors in a variety of roles since 2014. He also served as Co-Chair of Red Dinner II and Red Dinner III. Shawn is President of the Lone Star Volleyball Association.
Jennifer Graves (she/hers), Director, Events, is a Sociology Lecturer at the University of Houston. She is passionate about LGBTQ+ rights and community building and hope to help grow the LGBTQ AA so that we can assist even more students via scholarships and help connect our community through virtual and in-person events.
P. Tim Martindell (he/him), Director, Scholarship & Emergency Crisis Aid, is a middle school English teacher at The Village School and an adjunct instructor at the University of Houston Downtown. In addition to his twenty-five year teaching career, Tim served as the Houston A+ Challenge program coordinator for literacy and critical friendship, and the past president of both the Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts and the West Houston Council of Teachers of English. He holds an Ed.D. and M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction from the University of Houston and a B.S. Ed.. in communications education from Miami University. Tim and his husband, Michael, live in the Houston Heights.
Events and Programs
The UH LGBTQ Emergency Crisis Aid is operated by the UH LGBTQ Alumni Association and is available to UH Main Campus LGBTQIA+ students who have encountered a situation involving unusual financial hardship caused by emergency or circumstances beyond the students’ control including housing or food insecurity, or other resource-based needs that threaten a student’s ability to remain enrolled and to successfully complete their degree.
This aid is for current UH Main Campus students who are having short-term financial difficulty related to their sexual orientation or gender identity. The aid is intended to assist the student in maintaining or improving their academic standing. No applicant will be discriminated against based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
If you believe you have a circumstance and would like to have your situation evaluated for funds, please complete this application. Provide as much detail as possible so that your needs are fully understood. Once the application is received, representatives from the LGBTQ Alumni Association will review your application and will contact you for a follow-up conversation or in-person meeting. Submission of this application does not guarantee the applicant will be awarded.
Eligibility Requirements
- Currently enrolled in and attending at least 6 financial aid eligible credits during fall or spring or summer classes to be considered for the grant.
- Must be a degree-seeking student in good academic standing with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 or show evidence of recent satisfactory progress.
- A letter stating, that coming out as an LGBTQ student while attending the University of Houston, the student has encountered a financial hardship that threatens the student’s ability to be academically successful.
- The student is to provide a confirmation of the situation by a reference that verifies these circumstances.
Application Process
- The student submits an application online.
- The student will be contacted by the LGBTQ Alumni Association director of scholarships to discuss the student’s needs.
- A plan of action will be created.
- The director of scholarships will discuss the student’s action plan with the UH LGBTQ Alumni Association Board for the recommendation of award.
- Executive Officers will make the final decisions on the amount and allocation of funds.
- Emergency aid will be awarded to a company or a business providing the services to the student. No funding will be made directly to the student.
This emergency aid may affect a student’s financial aid. It is recommended that the student check with the Financial Aid Department before accepting this aid.
Fund Stipulations
- Grant may be awarded ONCE a semester
- Grants do not have to be repaid
APPLY HERE:
University of Houston LGBTQ Alumni Association Emergency Crisis Application
Red Dinner is the UH LGBTQ Alumni Association’s annual fundraising gala. In its previous 4 editions, the event has raised over $100,000 for LGBTQ+ students. Stay tuned for exciting details about Red Dinner 5. The event will take place in Fall 2020
This scholarship aims to encourage LGBTQ students to pursue studies at the University through this Scholarship Program. Each scholarship is a one-time award paid each semester or one award paid in the Fall semester (if the student is graduating in the fall semester).
SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS WILL BE OPEN FROM JANUARY 6TH – APRIL 17TH. CLICK HERE to apply today!
We have always celebrated Cougar Pride!
In 1976, the University of Houston’s Gay Activist Alliance organized a Pride event to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion in New York City. Although it is sometimes dismissed as “just a march”, fliers and other promotional pieces clearly identified it as a parade. There were no marching bands, floats or banners, and most of the participants had been recruited during the previous year by pioneering Houston activist Ray Hill whom attended the University of Houston.
Since then, Houston’s Pride Parade has grown to become the fourth-largest in the country (and the 15th largest in the world) with an estimated attendance of 700,000 in 2017.