First Connell Persico Scholarship Awarded to Shawn Giammattei for Outstanding Scholarship & Leadership in the LGBT Community

San Francisco – May 17, 2006 – The first Connell Persico scholarship award of $3500 has been given to Shawn Giammattei, a student in the PhD clinical psychology program of the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) at Alliant International University’s San Francisco Campus.Mr. Giammattei was recognized for outstanding scholarship and leadership in the LGBT community: He created a 70-minute video chronicling the history of the lesbian and gay civil rights movement; he completed two years of clinical training at the Alternative Family Institute, a family counseling center where he started a support group for lesbian and gay parents that later became known as the “Mamas and Papas Group” of San Francisco; and he currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of GLBT Family Studies published by Haworth Press.

Above: CSPP Distinguished Professor Robert-Jay Green, Professor Connell Persico, scholarship winner Shawn Giammattei and President Geoffrey Cox

Mr. Giammattei’s dissertation, which will be supported by the scholarship award, investigates whether there are differences in the emotional and social skills of children raised by lesbian, gay or heterosexual parents. Prior research investigated whether these children differed in rates of behavior problems and degree of gender conformity. Mr. Giammattei’s research is the first to examine whether these children differ on positive signs of emotional health (such as awareness and expression of feelings, ability to read other people’s feelings, and ability to manage one’s own and others’ emotions successfully).

A panel of three judges selected the scholarship winner from among 25 student applicants from Alliant’s California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP), Graduate School of Education or the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management on the San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, or Fresno campuses. The committee, composed of CSPP Distinguished Professor Robert-Jay Green, PhD, Professor Valory Mitchell, PhD, and alumnus Steven Baum, PhD, was so impressed by the quality of the applicants that they raised additional funds to give honorable mentions with grants of $500 to CSPP-LA students Mimi Hoang and Justin Shubert,.

Dr. Connell Persico said, “I created the award not only to support scholarship in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues across the University, but also to serve as an example of what can be done to raise a lot more money to support student and faculty LGBT community leadership activities.” Dr. Persico, who has been affiliated with CSPP and Alliant for 31 years, said that he raised the initial $55,000 endowment from among friends, relatives and alumni over the past five years, and that upon his death, a life insurance policy would add another $100,000 to the fund, raising the scholarship amount from $3500 to $7500 a year. Persico will retire in the fall of 2006 after 31 years of service Alliant, having served as Provost of the CSPP’s Los Angeles campus as well as Alliant’s systemwide Senior Vice President. Professor Persico, who holds a PhD in education from Stanford University, now teaches in Alliant’s Graduate School of Education.

Mr. Giammattei said, “I think this scholarship indicates how the University is supporting diversity education, including LGBT issues. I have felt personally encouraged in doing LGBT-focused work during the entire time I’ve been here.” Thanking Dr. Persico for starting the scholarship, he also acknowledged the mentoring of Professor Green, who is also Director of the University’s Rockway Institute for LGBT Research in the Public Interest (http://rockway.alliant.edu).

During the awards event, Dr. Green spoke about the huge impact social science research has had on the lives of GLBT individuals, citing the example of psychologist Evelyn Hooker at UCLA. Dr. Hooker’s early research revealed that homosexual and heterosexual men showed no differences in their mental health—a finding that ultimately led the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association to stop classifying homosexuality as a mental illness. “The effects of this research continue to be felt to the present day, leading to the Hardwick decision, in which the Supreme Court stuck down all of the so-called ‘sodomy statutes’ in the US and ruled that homosexual behavior between consenting adults was not illegal,” said Dr. Green. The Hardwick decision played a role in the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachussetts, civil union legislation in Vermont and domestic partners legislation in California.

“I have spent my whole career doing psychotherapy one-on-one to help victims of LGBT discrimination, but changes in public policy can improve the well being of hundreds of thousands of LGBT citizens and their families,” said Dr. Green. “That was one of the reasons I became involved in founding the Rockway Institute—to use contemporary LGBT research for the development of enlightened social policies in government, education, business, family life, and health care. ”

Founded in March of this year, Rockway Institute will, in Green’s words, “be a focal point for Alliant’s faculty and student interests in LGBT issues,” by supporting scholars, sponsoring original research, public policy studies and conducting media outreach on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) issues in the public interest. 

Dr. Persico stated, “Alliant should serve as a beacon to LGBT students interested in psychology, organizational studies and education. Its curriculum is inclusive, its faculty is diverse, and its mission is one of human rights and social justice. Back in the 1970s, Alliant was at the forefront in the inclusion of sexual orientation within its non-discrimination clause and in establishing a safe and supportive climate for LGBT students. In the late 1980s, it quietly implemented domestic partner benefits for its LGBT faculty and staff. In its passionate commitment to multiculturalism, it has always included sexual orientation as a key component.”

Green noted that Alliant is uniquely qualified to play a leading role in sponsoring research and policy advocacy on LGBT issues  because it has one of the largest concentrations of full-time core and part-time adjunct faculty with LGBT expertise of any university in the US. In terms of doctoral dissertations, CSPP has produced more research on LGBT psychology and educated more LGBT psychologists in the last 30 years than any institution of higher education.

With the founding of the Rockway Institute and the Persico Scholarship Fund (both of which are expected to grow with continuing contributions from alumni and members of the community), Alliant will continue to be in the forefront of professional LGBT education in the US.

Alliant is the product of the 2002 merger of two highly innovative institutions: the California School of Professional Psychology, the first freestanding institution in the U.S. dedicated to training doctoral-level clinical psychologists in professional practice; and United States International University, which was a pioneer in multicultural and international education.  Alliant has campuses in Fresno, Irvine, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and Mexico City; a psychology masters degree program in Tokyo; and will soon launch collaborative psychology doctoral degree programs with universities in Hong Kong and Beijing.  In all of its programs, the university emphasizes education for professional practice in a multicultural, global environment. The University enrolls approximately 3,600 students in psychology, education, organizational studies and business programs.

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Contact:

Nicolette Toussaint, Alliant Communication Director (415) 955-2037, ntoussaint@alliant.edu