Photo: Sharon Semmens 80C 80G presented Dohyun Ahn 14C with the GALA Leadership Award in March at the Emory Pride Awards.

At the 20th annual Emory Pride Awards reception at Emory School of Law on March 3, Dohyun Ahn 14C of Marietta, Georgia, received the Leadership Award from GALA (Emory Gay and Lesbian Alumni). The GALA Leadership Award provides a stipend based on financial need and a student’s leadership efforts to advocate for LGBT rights within the Emory community. 

Sharon Semmens 80C 80G, former GALA co-chair, presented the award to Ahn at the event in the law school’s Tull Auditorium. Semmens now chairs the organization’s Scholarship Selection Committee as well as the Leadership and Nominations Committee of the Emory Alumni Board.

A women’s studies major in Emory College of Arts and Sciences, Ahn “embodies key attributes of a student leader of the LGBTQ community: activism and academic success,” Semmens said.

Ahn founded the gay/straight alliance at his suburban Atlanta high school. At Emory, he joined the Office of LGBT Life’s advisory committee during his first semester on campus and was asked to serve as the LGBT liaison to the Student Government Association. He also serves on the President’s Commission on Sexuality, Gender Diversity and Queer Equality. 

The GALA Leadership Award was endowed in 2009 with more than $100,000 in private donations, and the fund continues to grow as alumni, parents, and friends support the effort. Ahn is the fourth student to receive the award.

Also at the 20th Emory Pride Awards event, the Office of LGBT Life recognized 20 “change agents”—alumni, former students, and staff cited for their courageous leadership.