Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bay Windows - October 21, 2004
Rudy Kikel
Birth date: May 6, 1967
Sign: Taurus
Have you heard anything about Taurus that seems true of you? "Let's see. I'm passionate about ideas."
Current residence: Malden, Massachusetts
Ethnic roots: "A nice midwestern boy."
E-mail address: stacy.vandeveer@unh.edu
Occupation: "I'm an associate professor at the University of New Hampshire in political science."
Religion: "I was brought up Catholic, and I think I've mostly recovered from it."
Points of origin: "I was born and grew up in a small town in Illinois called Chillicothe.
"I was the only child until I was 13, and I have two younger brothers, Mitch and Dirk. Mitch runs my father's construction company, and Dirk is a freshman at Arizona State University. Chillicothe is standard Americana.
"Going to college in Illinois was a great opportunity to get out of a small town and start experiencing more of life.
"The U of I was where I discovered political activism around gay and lesbian issues, around HIV, and around human rights and the environment.
"It was the fighting to get real information about HIV prevention out to students and the community that taught me how important it is to engage politics and activism.
"After college I loaded everything that I had in my car, including my grandmother, and moved to Los Angeles where I was a project manager on construction sites working for my father. Los Angeles is where I learned that I loved big city life: the nightlife, the amazing diversity (that Chillicothe lacked), and the exciting pace.
"In 1990 I moved to Washington, D.C., to go to the University of Maryland. In 1997 I got a Ph.D. in political science and international relations.
"While I was in Washington I met and fell in love with my partner, Michael Harding.
"Our first big date was on Halloween weekend, and our second was at an election party the night Bill Clinton was elected (1992).
"We moved in together and adopted a cat in 1994. We moved to Massachusetts in 1997 when I got a research/ post doc at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. It was a great opportunity to work there for two years.
"In the fall of 1999, I started teaching at the University of New Hampshire. 1998 was the year that I became a member of the Boston Steering Committee of the Human Rights Campaign."
Why did you? "My friend Jackie Price, whom I met while I was volunteering for Marjorie Claprood's campaign for Congress, brought me onto the HRC board.
"In the years since then my work with HRC has been a large part of my life here in Boston and a source of pride. This year I have the honor of being a co-chair with Patti Purcell of the 23rd Annual HRC New England Dinner, which will be held at the Hynes Convention Center, in Boston, on Saturday October 23."
What are you especially looking forward to? "We think this year will be especially exciting because for the first time anywhere in the country many of our gay and lesbian guests will be celebrating their marriage equality. There are exciting guests, including Phil Donahue, Jennifer Holliday, Laura Innes from "ER," and Andrew Sullivan. We are also very proud of our two Equality Award recipients, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Waltham House, the Home for Little Wanderers.
"There are lots of exciting things in the silent auction. Fantastic art, travel opportunities, a Mitchell Gold shopping spree, and a Volvo lease.
"After the dinner we're going to dance the night away at an after party at the Hynes."
What are this year's goals, and have you met them already? "We expect to sell out, and we hope and we believe that we'll set a couple of records. We want to motivate, move, and inspire our guests as we celebrate some of our recent victories as a community and plan our future successes.
"Naturally in an election year we want to help elect fair-minded leaders who will defend our gains and champion our causes."
Where can readers find out more about HRC and the dinner tix? "They can go to www.hrc/org/boston and to our local Web site, www.hrcboston.org."
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