LGBTQ+ Alum Network Volunteers
We hold this space for friends, classmates, and students who support the LGBTQ+ Alum mission and identify as a member of the network, but are not yet out. We are with you.
Twan Claiborne '07
Pronouns: all of themI am based in New York, NY teaching English and Math in special education settings, and performing in drag. Hailing from Lake Providence, LA and raised in Seattle, WA, I majored in Linguistics and minored in Black Studies at Swarthmore. Additionally, I was involved in several different organizations and activities, including Swarthmore College Orchestra, Elizabeth Fetter Chamber Music Program, Rhythm N Motion, Swarthmore Afro-American Student Society (SASS), COLORS (an Intercultural organization for queer students of color), and Dare 2 Soar. Outside of my livelihood, I am an avid activist in many ways. I enjoy dancing, reading. learning languages, dining, and traveling.
Beth Ferholt '93
Pronouns: she/her
I am a professor at Brooklyn College, The City University of New York, where I have taught undergraduate students in the Department of Early Childhood and Art Education since 2009. Before completing my doctoral degree in Communication at the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition at UCSD, I was an early childhood educator for ten years, primarily a preschool teacher for four and five year old children. I study play. I serve on various LGBTQ+ task forces and committees at Brooklyn College and have served for many years on the advisory board of the Proud Educators, a group that works to transform schools by supporting the practice of LGBTQ+ educators in New York, and now other states as well (https://www.
AV Lee-a-Yong '21
Pronouns: ze/hir
Originally from Miami, Florida, I majored in Peace and Conflict Studies at Swarthmore College, with minors in Psychology and Gender & Sexuality Studies. During my time there, I was lucky enough to be a part of and find community in COLORS, a closed group for queer and trans students of color, participate in student and department theater projects, and to establish a background in grassroots organizing and social work. I am currently based in Philadelphia, working in the non-profit sector. In my free time, I love cooking, traveling, and playing video games.
Adrianne Pierce '84
Pronouns: she/her/hers
I have taught Classics at Hackley School in Tarrytown, NY for 26 years where I have been Head of the Department for the past 17. I have also directed global education, holding the Allstrom Chair in Foreign Affairs for 8 years. I am finishing my second stint as the Middle School Coordinator of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and will retire from Hackley in June. At Swarthmore I was involved in the chorus and worked in neighboring Chester with the tutorial program. I received my Masters and PhD in Classics from Johns Hopkins where I taught for 10 years. As of June, my wife and I will live in Greene County, NY near Catskill; our two daughters are in college.
Edward Strickler '78
Pronouns: all of them
The difficult, disturbing, and delightful experiences of study and learning at Swarthmore conditioned me to lifelong learning, including three degrees from the University of Virginia, covering religious ethics, clinical ethics, and public health. These disciplines served well for advocating, teaching, and advising through the early decades of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, including with Virginia Department of Health and other agencies, especially in matters of sexual and gender minority (SGM) communities, rural communities, and intersections of class, culture, and lifecourse. Professional work settled down in the School of Medicine, UVA, from which I retired in 2020 (yet continuing in several helpful roles including as a ‘standardized patient’ with medical students). I was able in all that time to help catalyze and sustain some early SGM services (health, youth, and antiviolence programs, liaison with law enforcement, human rights advocacy, etc), assist family and friends in distress, win some ribbons at county fairs, get married (when allowed) to a companion (now of more than four decades), and practice speaking with crows. Crows are strong individuals within groups and so I have tried to be: joining and often co-facilitating many community dialogues on difficult topics, joining and sometimes leading various boards, commissions, and task forces (e.g. American Public Health Association, Diocese of Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia, etc), and acquiring better skills for listening before doing.
Z.L. Zhou '16
Pronouns: he/him
Having lived in Tucson, Arizona for nearly my entire childhood, I was thrilled to exchange the heat of the desert for the botanical beauty of Swarthmore. Of course, Swat wasn't just a pretty place. Academically, I had a great time: I majored in Linguistics, completed the whole slate of pre-med courses, and greatly enjoyed the Creative Writing poetry workshops I took in the English Lit department. With respect to extracurriculars, I had an incredible time: I was involved with the Phoenix, WSRN, the lit mag scene, and a capella — as well as SQU and SAO. After graduation, I obtained a PhD in linguistics at UCLA and now live in San Francisco, working in the AI/ML industry. In my free time, I enjoy hummingbird-spotting, trying new cuisines, chatting with friends, and napping with my dog.
Bobby Zipp '18
Pronouns: he/they
When I first arrived at Swarthmore in the fall of 2014, one of the things I was looking forward to the most was being a part of a community where I felt I could express my queer identity without fear of judgment. I studied English Literature, Political Science, and Educational Studies and participated in the Honors program, which was equal parts delightful and daunting. Outside of class, I worked in the call center for the Office of Advancement and as a student worker in Admissions, and spent time as a member of the Phoenix newspaper and in the Student Government Organization. After Swarthmore, I lived in Thessaloniki, Greece for a year, spent the pandemic in San Jose, California, and now live in Brooklyn, NY.
