Reinette Jones honored with UK LGBTQ* Alumni Award

The LGBTQ* UK Alumni Group kicked off #PrideWeek on Monday evening with a mixer and forum at the Hilary J. Boone Center on Monday.

Reinette Jones ’83 ’88 CI was honored with this year’s Bourke-DeLeon Distinguished LGBTQ* Alumni Award. Jones is the UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center Librarian and African American Studies Academic Liaison.

Jones is a founding member of the UK PrideCats and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Bluegrass Black Pride. She curated an online exhibit titled “A Pictorial History: African American Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Persons in Kentucky.” She also created a research guide for lesbian studies at UK, and codeveloped and manages the Notable Kentucky African American Database (NKAA).

The award is selected and presented annually by the PrideCats LGBTQ* UK Alumni Group.

The event consisted of a mixer with students and alumni. Last year’s Outstanding LGBTQ* Alumni Award winner, Dr. Keisa Fallin-Bennett, was the evening’s keynote speaker. Fallin-Bennett is an associate professor of Family & Community Medicine at UK and is also the clinic director of the Transform Health Clinic.

The PrideCats’ Social and Mixer was part of a series of events being hosted across campus and throughout Lexington as part of UK’s Pride Week celebrations. Details about other UK Pride Week events can be found at https://www.uky.edu/lgbtq/calendar-events

The LGBTQ* UK Alumni Group, also known as PrideCats, was founded in 2016 to promote fellowship among alumni of the University of Kentucky who identify as part of an LGBTQ* community as well as alumni who identify as friends of LGBTQ* communities. This group operates in close connection with the UK Office of LGBTQ* Resources and seeks to bring members together through communication, meetings, gatherings, and reunions.

Anyone interested in being added to the distribution list to stay up to date on the latest news and events from PrideCats should visit www.ukalumni.net/lgbtqform.

For additional information on the UK LGBTQ* Alumni Group, including the group’s bylaws and links to their social media pages, please visit www.ukalumni.net/lgbtq.