Roger B.A. Klorese '77 and David L. Haney give $1 million to support gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender program

Posted 10/20/00

Dartmouth's programming and support for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students will be greatly enhanced thanks to a $1 million gift for that purpose from San Francisco software strategist Roger B.A. Klorese, a member of the Dartmouth Class of 1977, and his partner David L. Haney, a professional cellist and composer.

The Roger B.A. Klorese '77 and David L. Haney (DePauw '88) Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Program Fund will be used to support educational, cultural, and social programming for GLBT students; to provide education about GLBT concerns to the Dartmouth community; and to secure on a permanent, full-time basis an existing part-time administrative position to coordinate these efforts.

The Klorese and Haney gift is the largest gift to date for support of Dartmouth's GLBT students. Dartmouth will celebrate the gift with a public ceremony and reception for Klorese and Haney on Nov. 4, hosted by Dartmouth President James Wright.

Dean of the College James Larimore said, "The establishment of the Roger B.A. Klorese and David L. Haney Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Program Fund is a significant step forward in the history of the College. While it will provide programmatic opportunities and education about GLBT concerns for the Dartmouth community, I have a special appreciation for what it will mean for our students in their day-to-day lives. The gift will allow the GLBT Advisor for Advocacy and Programming, Pam Misener, to implement ideas for programming, services and outreach to help ensure that all members of the Dartmouth community have the opportunity to participate in a rich and rewarding Dartmouth experience."

Roger Klorese is Director of Product Marketing for VMware of Palo Alto, CA. As a Dartmouth undergraduate from Brooklyn, N.Y., he majored first in English and later in film studies and drama. He was founding secretary of Students for Social Alternatives (Dartmouth's first student organization to address the issue of diversity-respecting social contexts, especially for gay students) and worked as music director at the student radio station WFRD and on the staff of the student newspaper The Dartmouth. He also developed an interest in computing at Dartmouth, and subsequently worked in the field in New York, Boston and Dallas before moving to the San Francisco Bay area 12 years ago. Ten years ago he established, and has continued to manage, the nonprofit QueerNet Project, the first provider of GLBT Internet communities. David Haney is a cellist with the Redwood Symphony of Redwood City, Calif., and a member of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. A graduate of DePauw University, Haney also holds master's degrees in music from the University of Chicago and Yale University.

Klorese said, "For most students, college is a time when they have to make a way for themselves. When I went to Dartmouth, it was the first time that I really got outside a very well-defined and close-knit small neighborhood and had to deal with people who in some ways were not like me. It was, in a lot of ways, a positive though challenging experience to deal with such a different world, especially since I was in only the second coed class at Dartmouth. Since then it's been a great joy to see the ways in which Dartmouth has changed and become more and more welcoming of difference. In looking for places to share our blessings and help foster change, it seemed to David and me that a gift to Dartmouth could really help continue that growth."

The Klorese and Haney gift is the second large gift of its kind to Dartmouth this year. In February 2000 the College received $250,000 when the Edward Carpenter Memorial Foundation, which had been established in 1985 for the enhancement of the lives of gay students at Dartmouth, transferred its assets to the College. Those assets provided the base for two funds at Dartmouth: the Stonewall Fund, which provides monies for academics; and the Carpenter Fund, which provides monies to the Office of Student Life for co-curricular and extracurricular activities.