The lobby of Cardozo’s Ruth & H. Bert Mack Pavilion was bursting with rainbow colors on June 30 as students and alumni gathered to celebrate the school’s LGBTQIA+ community while cheering on the NYC Pride March during the ninth annual Pride Brunch.

The Cardozo Alumni Association and the OUTlaw Alumni Group invited the Cardozo community to Pride Brunch.

Chantelle “Elle” Gyamfi ’20, the alumni chair for OUTaw, encouraged students to join the OUTlaw Alumni Group once they graduated and to get involved in the OUTlaw Student Group. She spoke about the work the student organization accomplished, including forming a mentorship program.

In her remarks, Dean Melanie Leslie said she has seen the changing landscape in the United States as it relates to LGBTQ+ rights. While there have been major strides made in recognizing gay marriage as a right, she acknowledged some of the recent rollbacks.

“It reminds us we can never take these rights for granted and how important it is to have days like today, when we can celebrate victories, celebrate equality and come together as a community to support one another,” she said.

Cardozo’s Greenwich Village home is in a neighborhood known for its LGBTQIA+ history, including the 1969 Stonewall uprising.

One year after the uprising, thousands of people marched from the Stonewall Inn to Central Park on the first Christopher Street Liberation Day.

Today, the NYC Pride March is an iconic event in New York City every June, and it passes right by Cardozo.

Pride Brunch supports students through different funds, including the Paris Baldacci Scholarship. Named after the late professor, the scholarship is awarded to a 3L or LL.M. Cardozo student who has done exemplary work at the school that’s related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirit, non-binary or intersex rights in a clinic, credited externship or through non-credit work, such as organizing and activism.