Univ. of Md. gets new LGBT Equity official

Nicholas Sakurai will be the University of Maryland’s new associate director of the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equity.

According to a July 2 announcement from office director Luke Jensen, Sakurai has more than 10 years experience working on LGBT issues in higher education, including working as an assistant in the LGBT Resource Center at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Sakurai also was the director of the LGBT Student Empowerment Project of the U.S. Student Association Foundation, and organized the first LGBT Student of Color National Summit. As member of the Executive Board of the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals, he chaired an initiative advancing greater racial and ethnic inclusion within the organization.

Sakurai previously spearheaded an effort to create a transgender-inclusive employee health insurance policy at American University, which was touted as the first of its kind at a private U.S. university and the first of its kind for any employer in the mid-Atlantic region. Before joining the University of Maryland, he was program coordinator and interim director of the GLBTA Resource Center at American University.