Local
Obituary
Jack Keegel, 68
John Jack Keegel, a longtime D.C. resident and professor of mathematics at the University of the District of Columbia for nearly 35 years, died of cancer May 11 at his home in Boynton Beach, Fla. He was 68.
With a specialty in statistics and statistical analysis, Keegel played a lead role for more than 20 years in designing and directing an annual, federally mandated study of seatbelt usage by drivers in the District of Columbia.
The D.C. Department of Transportation retained Keegel to organize the study with the help of student interns at UDC and others, who methodically observed whether drivers traveling along various D.C. streets wore their seatbelts. Although he retired as a professor in 2004, he continued to conduct the seatbelt study through 2009, when his findings showed a 93 percent seatbelt usage by D.C. drivers, according to UDC Professor Eugene Shiro, who assisted Keegel in the study.
Keegel’s friends said they and his UDC colleagues became inspired and moved in 1995 over Keegel’s devotion to his domestic partner of 24 years, Edward Levine, who was hospitalized in critical condition while awaiting a heart transplant. They said Keegel juggled his teaching schedule to make time each day to drive from the District to Fairfax Hospital, where he spent part of the day with Levine for nearly two months before Levine died while waiting for a replacement heart that never arrived.
During Levine’s hospital stay, he and Keegel agreed to become the subject of a feature story in the Washington Blade, becoming the first known same-sex couple to publicly share their experiences in grappling with the uncertainty of a hoped for heart transplant.
Keegel was born in Jersey City, N.J. and was raised in Rahway, N.J. He received a bachelor’s degree in 1963 from Rutgers University and his master’s degree in 1966 from the University of Delaware, both in mathematics. He received a doctorate degree in statistics in 1975 from George Washington University.
Keegel served as a statistician with the National Institutes of Health from 1966 to 1969 and worked as a statistical consultant to a contracting company providing services to the U.S. Postal Service from 1968 to 1969. He began his tenure as a mathematics professor at UDC in 1969.
While at UDC, he worked as a statistical consultant during the summer months for a number of outside consulting firms. In the summer of 1979 he served as a lecturer at the NATO Advanced Statistics Institute in Urbino, Italy. Keegel also is the author or co-author of at least nine books or book chapters on statistics and statistical analysis.
Upon his retirement, he retained his home in D.C. while spending winters in Boynton Beach, Fla.
Keegel was preceeded in death by Levine, his domestic partner of 24 years. Survivors include a former domestic partner, Brian Lee; his father, John Keegel; a stepmother, Margo Keegel; several cousins; and many longtime friends in Florida and D.C.
Plans to celebrate Keegel’s life in Florida and D.C. are pending.
Maryland
Federal officials launch Title IX probe into Md. schools over trans athletes
Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Frederick Counties named in probe
On June 23, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced it is launching a Title IX investigation into three Maryland school districts and the Maryland State Department of Education for failing to enforce sex-based protections guaranteed by federal law.
The districts include Montgomery County Public Schools, Prince George’s County Public Schools, and Frederick County Public Schools.
According to the department, these districts require schools to allow boys to compete in girls’ athletics, to use girls-only locker rooms, restrooms, and overnight accommodations alongside female athletes.
According to Bethesda Today, Montgomery County Public Schools spokesperson Liliana Lopez said “MCPS remains committed to providing safe, welcoming and inclusive learning environments for all students and to complying with applicable federal and Maryland laws and regulations. As the matter is now under review by the Office for Civil Rights, we have no further comment at this time.”
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey states that allowing students access to sex-separated programs and facilities based on gender identity is “deeply troubling.”
“54 years after Title IX was signed into law, the Trump administration remains steadfast to enforce its promise to protect women and girls. We will fully investigate these allegations and take appropriate action to ensure compliance with federal law,” Richey said in a statement.
According to the press release from the Department of Education, the violation falls under a Trump-Vance administration rewrite of Title IX, which aligned the sex-based protections “with biological reality, not ideological fantasy.”
This comes after the NCAA released a statement in February stating that people assigned male at birth cannot participate in women’s sports teams. The NCAA stated, “The policy is clear that there are no waivers available, and students assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team with amended birth certificates or other forms of ID.”
The U.S. Supreme Court is also currently deliberating on a case regarding transgender athletes in youth sports and their ability to play on teams that align with their gender identity, with the decision expected in the coming days.
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Congratulations to Paul Marengo who has been appointed the new executive director of the Equality Chamber of Commerce.
The Equality Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to advancing economic opportunities, business growth, and advocacy for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs, professionals, and allies. Through networking, education, and community engagement, the Chamber works to create a thriving and inclusive business environment for all.
On behalf of the Chamber, Edmund Morris said, “We are thrilled to welcome Paul Marengo as executive director. His passion, vision, and dedication to fostering inclusive business environments make him the ideal leader to guide the Chamber into its next phase of growth and success.”
Marengo has been a nonprofit fundraising executive for more than 30 years. He is the founder and CEO of Promethean Fundraising, a grassroots consulting firm that provides assistance, tools, and empowers emerging nonprofits to become competitive fundraisers. His clients have included The Chamber, Ragtag Film Society, and The Cherry Fund. He has served as a grant reviewer for the Maryland State Arts Commission, Virginia Commission for the Arts, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
District of Columbia
Nearly 6,000 turn out for Pride Night Out at the Nationals
Gay Men’s Chorus sings National Anthem
“Just shy of” 6,000 people purchased tickets for the Wednesday, June 24, 21st annual Pride Night Out at the Washington Nationals baseball stadium, which the Nationals said is the longest running LGBTQ Pride event in Major League Baseball, according to a Nationals spokesperson.
The event was organized with the Nationals by Team D.C., the local LGBTQ sports group that organizes similar Pride Nights for other professional D.C. area sports teams.
“It was a good time had by all as the Nationals celebrated the LGBTQ+ community during the Nationals 21st Pride Night Out, presented by Team D.C.” the Nationals said in a statement.
Nationals spokesperson Erica George said the overall game attendance was 27,200.
Similar to recent past years, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington sung the National Anthem at the start of the game, drawing loud cheers from people throughout the stadium.
The Nationals lost the game to the Philadelphia Phillies by a score of 5-4. Although most of the LGBTQ attendees of the event, held in the right-field mezzanine section of the stadium, were cheering for the Nationals, a sizeable number also cheered for the Phillies.
Miguel Ayala, one of Team D.C.’s lead organizers, said he noticed fans displaying Pride flags and recognized LGBTQ people in all parts of the stadium, indicating significantly more LGBTQ people and their supporters attended the game beyond the close to 6,000 or more who purchased the specific Pride Night Out tickets.
“It was a great excitement last night,” he told the Washington Blade on the day following the event. “I saw a lot of big crowds of our people, I saw everybody I can think of in the community. And it was really great to see the turnout.”
Also, like in previous years, Team D.C. along with the Nationals helped to organize a pre-game show on the large concourse platform area next to the stadium seating area involving a drag show led by local drag performer Shi-Queeta Lee.
“During pregame ceremonies, the Nationals Pride employee resource group was recognized on the field,” the statement released by the Nationals says. “Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, a physician and public health leader who has had a profound impact on the LGBTQ+ community and those living with or vulnerable to HIV, threw out the ceremonial first pitch as the guest of Team D.C.,” the statement says.
It adds that Team D.C.’s scholarship recipient Spencer Doll made the ceremonial call to “Play Ball.”
As if all that were not enough, a Nationals employee who entertains during the Nationals pre-game shows on the field dressed as a giant eagle named “Screech” wearing an eagle’s head mask appeared in the seating area where the Pride Night Out crowd was seated and mingled with the LGBTQ fans, many of whom posed for photos with Screech.
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Nearly 6,000 turn out for Pride Night Out at the Nationals
