The Interviewees

Deborah Abbott was a student at Porter College from 1971 to 1975. She was an early member of the Santa Cruz Women's Health Collective, as well as the co-founder and first executive director of WomenCare, a Santa Cruz organization serving women with cancer. Abbott is a writer, and co-edited From Wedded Wife to Lesbian Life: Stories of Transformation. She has been serving as the first director of the GLBT Resource Center since November 1997.

Rahne Alexander has been a student, trans community activist, and workshop leader at UCSC, and in Santa Cruz since the mid-1990s.

KC Bly was a student from 1998 to 2002. In 1999, he became the first Transgender Programs Coordinator at the UCSC GLBT Resource Center. He also worked with CLUH, Genderation X, and Triangle Speakers.

Scott Brookie was a student at Stevenson College from 1974 to 1978. He has been a staff computer programmer since 1984. Brookie was the publisher of the Lavender Reader magazine, and is a writer and activist.

Wendy Chapkis was an undergraduate at UCSC from 1973 to 1977, and a graduate student in sociology from 1985 to 1995. She has also been a lecturer in women's studies, politics and other departments. A queer activist, and writer, Chapkis was a founder of the Bulkhead Gallery. She is currently a professor of women's studies at the University of Southern Maine.

De Clarke was a student at Kresge College from 1975 to 1979, and graduated with a degree in linguistics. She has been employed by Lick Observatory since 1980, currently as a software engineer. She was involved in several feminist and gay-rights projects in Santa Cruz in the 1980s, and twenty years later is still in Santa Cruz and still writing (and thinking) radically.

Robert Imada was a student from 1998 to 2002. He was a core organizer for Queers of Color and the GLBT Network. He was a Queer CUIP [Chancellor's Undergraduate Internship Program] intern; co-chair of the UCGLBT Association, and of the GLBT Campus Concerns Committee.

David Kirk was staff at UCSC from 1972 to 2001, first at the Office of Instructional Services, and then with the Media Services department of the University Library. He was a founder of the Lesbian and Gay Men's Union at Cabrillo College (LAGMU) and of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GALA) at UCSC. He was also an activist with the Committee United to Defeat the Briggs Initiative (CUDBI), and a founder of Santa Cruz Gay Pride. Kirk continues to be active as a volunteer with the GLBT Resource Center.

Alison Kim was a student at UCSC from 1985 to 1989. She co-edited and co-published Between the Lines: A Pacific/Asian Lesbian Anthology in 1987. Kim is also the curator/archivist of the Asian/Pacific Islander Lesbian Collection available at the Special Collections department of the University Library.

John Laird came to UCSC in 1968 and graduated in 1972. In 1983, Laird was elected mayor of Santa Cruz, and became the first openly gay mayor in the United States. Laird was also a founding member of the Santa Cruz AIDS Project (SCAP). In 2002 he was elected to the California State Legislature as one of two of the first openly gay men to be elected to the state assembly.

Gwendolyn Morgan was a student at UCSC from 1989 to 1991, and a staff member on campus from 1991 to 2000. She was a founder and coordinator of the Diversity Education Program for staff. She now lives and works in the Bay Area.

Ekua Omosupe was a graduate student at UCSC from 1985 to 1997, and received her Ph.D. in American literature. She has been teaching at Cabrillo Community College's English department since 1992. Ekua's poems and essays have been published in various journals and anthologies.

Celine-Marie Pascale was a graduate student in sociology in the 1990s and a faculty fellow from 2001 to 2003. She is an activist and writer, and will be teaching at American University beginning in fall 2003. Her writing has been published in Sinister Wisdom and Puerta del Sol .

Alan Sable was a faculty member in sociology at UCSC from 1970 to 1977. He was the first UCSC professor to come out to his class, in 1971. Sable was the faculty adviser for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GALA) in 1975. He was denied tenure in 1977. He is now a psychotherapist in the Bay Area.

Tchad Sanger was a student from 1989 to 1993, and has been a staff member from 1993 to the present. He is currently an academic adviser at Stevenson College. Sanger has been a member and co-chair of the GLBT Concerns Committee and of the UCGLBTA. He was also the co-organizer of the "Exposed" conference in 1998. Tchad has also been honored by a Mayor's proclamation for his service to the Santa Cruz community.

Mercedes Santos was a staff member at the Equal Employment Opportunity Office from the early-1990s to 2003. She was a member of the GLBT Concerns Committee. Her writing has been published in various journals and anthologies.
Ziesel Saunders was a student at UCSC from 1972 to 1977. She was a founding member of the Santa Cruz Women's Health Collective, and co-author of Lesbian Health Matters! Saunders was an administrator at Merrill College from 1984 to the mid-1990s. She helped to secure space for the GLBT Resource Center in the mid-1980s.

Jean-Marie Scott has been an administrator at UCSC since 1993. In 2000, Scott became an associate vice chancellor, making her the highest-ranking out lesbian administrator at UCSC.

William Shipley was a professor of linguistics from 1966 to 1991. He is well-known for his pioneering work with the Mountain Maidu Indians of California.

Nancy Stoller (Shaw) has been faculty in community studies since 1973. She was denied tenure in 1982; after a long legal and political battle, Stoller won in 1987, and returned to teach at UCSC. She was the founder of the Santa Cruz Women's Prison Project, as well as a founding member of both the GLBT Concerns Committee and the UCGLBTA. She was also a key activist in the battle for domestic partner benefits at the University of California.

David Thomas was a professor of politics at UCSC from 1966 to 2000. His course Sexual Politics: Gay Politics was the first gay-themed course offered at UCSC which was taught by a regular faculty member. It was also one of the first such courses offered by any political science department in the United States.

Carter Wilson was a professor in community studies from 1972 to 2002. He co-wrote the screenplay for the academy-award winning 1984 film, The Times of Harvey Milk He is also the author of several books, including Crazy February: Death and Life in the Mayan Highlands of Mexico and Hidden in the Blood: A Personal Investigation of AIDS in the Yucatán .

The following individuals participated in the Living History Circle at the Alumni Reunion on April 20, 2002:
Walter Brask, Melissa Barthelemy, Valerie Chase, Cristy Chung, James K. Graham, Linda Rosewood Hooper, Rik Isensee, David Kirk, Stephen Klein, John Laird, Jacquelyn Marie, Robert Philipson, Irene Reti, and John Paul Zimmer.