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The fifth-annual Harvey Milk Commemorative Dinner on May 18 will raise awareness about the LGBTQ+ community and Harvey Milk’s efforts to educate and promote social change.

The event, held in Reeve Memorial Union, also will provide scholarships for University of Wisconsin Oshkosh students and high school seniors within the LGTBQ+ community in the Fox Valley.

The dinner will be held 6 to 8 p.m. and is $25 per person or $200 per table. The event is open to the public; tickets are available online.

The dinner will highlight the LGBTQA+ Chapter of UW Oshkosh’s Alumni Association and UWO graduates who represent qualities similar to those of Harvey Milk, said Liz Cannon, director of the LGBTQ Resource Center.

“Each of these individuals became outstanding leaders on behalf of the queer community while on campus and have gone on to further develop as the type of leaders who have taken Harvey Milk’s words to heart: ‘You’ve got to give them hope,’” Cannon said.

Alumni returning to their alma mater are Tommy Bricco ’12, of New York, N.Y.; Erik Koepnick ’08, of Milwaukee; Bailey Murph ’11, of Milwaukee; Jackson Scheerer ’09, of Campbellsport; and Travis Swanson ’11, of Tomah.

Harvey Milk was one of the first openly gay political figures in the United States. He was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Milk was a leader and activist for gay rights and gained popularity among other politicians. He was assassinated after serving only one year in office.

Bricco has been involved with the LGBTQ community since he was an undergraduate at UW Oshkosh. He knew from a young age that he wanted to teach, but narrowed his interests to helping LGBTQ students. Bricco currently works at  Harvey Milk High School in Manhattan and helps run after-school activities and other youth programs.

Murph has been involved with the LGBTQ community since her time at UWO, where she started as an ally and became a member of the UW Oshkosh Rainbow Alliance for HOPE. She became a Queer Peer Mentor and marched in the first UWO LGBTQ Ally March in 2010. Murph is excited to be visiting her alma mater as a panelist for the commemorative dinner.

Koepnick  works with The Guest House in Milwaukee, a homeless shelter that provides education, housing and other services to help people get back on their feet.

Swanson has been involved in the LGBTQ community since 2006, when he volunteered for Fair Wisconsin. He works for Planned Parenthood in Washington, D.C., as a public policy coordinator. Swanson is excited to visit his alma mater, so he can reunite with his friends and former professors.

Scheerer works at TEKsystems in Green Bay as a PC technician. He graduated in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology. During his time at UWO he won a Student Leadership Award within the LGBTQ community. Scheerer is happy to return to UW Oshkosh because, he said, the  campus holds a special place in his heart.

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