Tag Archive: gala

  1. Citing weather conditions, GALA reunion canceled

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    The second annual LGBTQ GALA Reunion scheduled to take place this weekend was canceled at noon today due to severe weather conditions.

    Organizers decided to announce the cancellation due to closed venues, canceled flights and potential danger risks, said Anna Wipfler ’09, who co-chaired the reunion. The decision was made in time for the large majority of registrants to cancel their travel arrangements, Wipfler added, and ad hoc arrangements will be made for the 30 to 50 people who have already arrived on campus.

    “The Reunion Committee has been focusing on communication with attendees and speakers to ensure that everyone is aware of the cancellation, and to help those already in transit get connected with others on campus so as to make the most of their trip despite the change,” Wipfler said, adding that organizers will consider plans for a rescheduled reunion in the coming weeks.

    Wipfler declined to comment on the projected loss of this cancellation.

    IvyQ — an annual undergraduate conference for LGBTQ and allied students that is also being hosted at Yale this weekend – will continue as planned with minor scheduling changes, said the conference’s Vice Chair Stefan Palios ’14. No registrants will miss the conference due to travel issues, and all speakers are still scheduled to appear, he added.

  2. Yale LGBT alumni association releases music video

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    Yale’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Alumni Association (GALA) has released a colorful new video in an effort to promote its second reunion this February.

    The music video — which was arranged by Ben Wexler ’12 — features an a cappella medley that includes a range of songs associated with the gay rights movement, including “Over the Rainbow,” “I’m Coming Out,” “Like a Prayer” and “Prove It On Me Blues.” The video was directed by Charlie Polinger ’13 and includes nine segments, which each showcase a different song and dance.

    “I wanted to make something that celebrated how far Yale has come in accepting and celebrating the LGBT community,” Polinger wrote in a Saturday email. “We did a lot of research into the aesthetic, genre, tone of each of the songs Ben selected and then found ways to apply those to the Yale campus.”

    The segments were filmed in varying locations around campus, with “Love on Top” filmed on the roof of The Fence Club and “Like a Prayer” filmed in an archway. In total, the video featured 39 performers.

    The video has already exploded on the Web, with over 19,000 hits on YouTube by Nov. 10. In addition, it has been picked up by BuzzFeed and the popular LGBT blog Towleroad.

    “I’m so glad so many undergrads seem to be enjoying the video, but it is especially rewarding seeing that alumni, those perhaps most affected by the content of the video, really love it as well,” said Katherine Nelson ’13, the video’s producer, in an email.

    If the music video’s fabulously over-the-top choreography and brightly colored costumes are any indication, GALA’s reunion should be, as Towleroad dubbed it, “a gay old time.”