The LGBTQ Center's 20th Anniversary

In the small, midwestern city of South Bend, Indiana, for members of the LGBTQ+ community, having a space for themselves is life changing. And for twenty years, people here have had that space.  Today, it’s called the LGBTQ Center. As the Center approached its twentieth anniversary, Dr. Jamie Wagman and students from Saint Mary’s College students preserved the history of the Center by conducting oral histories of fourteen people who were foundational to the Center’s evolution.  For the Center’s anniversary gala in 2025, Dr. Wagman and student Phoenix McClellan pulled clips and organized them into this presentation.  Featuring the voices of some of the many people whose time and dedication have shaped the LGBTQ Center throughout its two decades, including Rhonda Redman, Hank Mascotte, Phillip Schatz, Meghan Buell, Eli Williams, Drew Gardner, Nancy Mascotte, H.R. Jung, Michael McMillion, Krista Cox, Angela Hankins, Kathryn Kirk, J.D. Schock, Jamie Morgan, Derek McDowell, and Rhiannon Carlson. This episode was produced by Dr. Jamie Wagman and Phoenix McClellan from Saint Mary’s College, by Jon Watson and Caleb Matz from the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at IU South Bend, and by George Garner from the Civil Rights Heritage Center.  Full transcript of this episode available here. Want to learn more about South Bend’s history? View the photographs and documents that helped create it. Visit Michiana Memory at http://michianamemory.sjcpl.org/.  Title music, “History Repeats,” from Josh Woodward, used via CC-BY-4.0-DEED. Visit his website at https://www.joshwoodward.com.