Rachel Berson, a communication studies and political science double major who is graduating this year, was recently awarded the MarcDavid LGBTQ Scholarship. She has been a strong advocate for the LGBTQ community since high school but found that Temple University gave her the space to place the community as a priority in her academic and extracurricular activities. 
As the recipient of the award, she received $2,250 this semester to help with school-related expenses, but the honor also represents her commitment to LGBTQ rights.

The MarcDavid Scholarship is available every year to Temple undergraduates who exemplify leadership and extensive involvement in causes that support the LGBTQ community.
Berson was informed of the scholarship opportunity while studying abroad in Japan last semester by Scott Gratson, the director of the communication studies department. Because of her pre-college leadership such as being a part of her Rhode Island high school’s equivalent to a Gay-Straight Alliance and speaking with state leaders and local educators about LGBTQ rights as a student advocate, she had years of experience working as a member of and within the LGBTQ community. 

In fall 2018, Berson interned with WorldPride in New York City, an event that brings out millions of LGBTQ people, supporters and spectators every year. While working with the organization, she was a volunteer for one of the event’s larger parties, allowing her to gain real-life experience in working for community events. It is no surprise that Gratson believed she was the perfect fit for the scholarship.

“Her work is incredibly good, but her dedication to the cause is that much better. So I am thrilled that she was awarded with this incredible scholarship,” Gratson says.

Berson recognizes that being able to apply for the MarcDavid scholarship as an openly LGBTQ person is a privilege in and of itself, and hopes to use her position to help other members of the community navigate a space that, for safety and well-being reasons, is often shrouded in secrecy. With aspirations of attending law school and becoming a public defender while working to destigmatize the issues faced by those in marginalized communities, she believes that this scholarship raises her expectations of herself and her future.

“The reason I was able to pursue the work I’ve done in the LGBT community is because I don’t have to hide that part of my identity,” Berson says. “I guess I just want to recognize that because obviously this is a huge honor but it’s something that also I am fortunate to be able to do and I know that not everyone else is able to do that.

“So I’m very cognizant of that and that’s like a big part of what I think about when I’m thinking about this award and that’s why it’s really important to me that the money goes toward the furthering of my career and advocacy so that I can make a better world for people who are not as privileged as I am in that regard.”

She also hopes to further her studies of the LGBTQ community by doing research on the history and development of WorldPride.