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The idea began with an awkward fundraising call, nearly thirty years ago.

David Kaplan (BA, Psychology, ’67) picked up the phone and heard the voice of a volunteer, asking him if he’d be interested in making an unrestricted donation of $100 to UW-Madison. He remembers the rest of the conversation as if it had happened yesterday.

“I said, no, but I’d be interested in donating half a million dollars to LGBTQ Studies,” says David. “She said, ‘We don’t have that here,’ and hung up.”

Fast-forward three decades, throw in a massive evolution in cultural awareness and the stars are very differently aligned. The College of Letters & Science has a thriving Department of Gender & Women’s Studies (the department was created in 2008, building on the longstanding Women's Studies Program at UW-Madison), and, thanks to the generosity of David and his longtime partner, artist Glenn Ostergaard, L&S now has the Brautigam-Kaplan Foundation Scholarship, a new fund designed to help promising students pursuing a certificate in LGBTQ+ Studies. This year, five students (Anthony Cattani, Alanna Goldstein, Adrian Lampron, Justin Myrah and M. Rose Sweetnam) received scholarships from the fund, and a new dissertation fellowship to support a graduate student in LGBTQ+ Studies was just added for next year.

For David and Glenn, creating the fund and the fellowship was an important way to spur the types of opportunities they didn’t have themselves as college students.

“The fund helps to keep a focus on gay rights and women’s rights, and it helps another generation of students to make progress,” says David, a retired businessman. Glenn, a painter and sculptor, worked for a brokerage firm.

The fund is named in honor of David’s first partner, who died of AIDS at the age of 39. In addition to supporting the arts and health care, David decided to create the Brautigam-Kaplan Foundation to support future opportunities—like the scholarship fund.

David, who grew up in New York, ended up in Madison for an unusual reason: His babysitter had gone there and sung the UW’s praises. When he arrived on campus, he was stunned to learn he was one of three David Alan Kaplans in his freshman class. David made the most of his time in Madison--he was a member of Phi Lambda Pi and routinely participated in “Humorology,” the annual comedy-variety show.

“I had an extremely positive experience,” he says. “I was disappointed that I had to graduate.”

Ostergaard remembers attending the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation in 1993. More specifically, he recalls how the historic moment galvanized him.

“After the march, I remember sitting in one of the parks, surrounded by lots of younger kids, and you couldn’t help but notice how excited they all were about this event,” he says. “Now we have successful gay individuals. It was a turnaround, a transformational moment, and I didn’t want it to end. This fund is a way to keep that spirit going.”

Janet Sibley Hyde, the former chair of the Department of Gender & Women’s Studies, was instrumental in helping David and Glenn establish the fund. Hyde’s colleagues are keenly aware of the difference it is already making.

“Because of factors like historical discrimination and suppression, this is a field that does not have a legacy of financial support like many other disciplines,” explains Anna Campbell, Associate Professor of Gender & Women’s Studies. “The Brautigam-Kaplan funds create an opportunity to support students in a concrete financial way, as well as helping us shift the culture to honor and recognize the importance of LGBTQ scholarship broadly.”

Alanna Goldstein is one of the 2021 Brautigam-Kaplan Scholarship winners. A junior from the Chicago suburbs majoring in Political Science and Gender & Women’s Studies, Goldstein is interested in combining her interests in gender theory and activism. She’s one of only two undergraduate members of the UW-Madison’s Shared Governance/LGBTQ+ Committee, and is working as an assistant in Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers’ office, helping with constituent services. She has used the scholarship to take courses examining the impact of healthcare systems on LGBTQ+ individuals in countries in Latin America.

“It’s exciting,” she says. “I’m learning about the policies that impact the work I’m doing with marginalized groups.”

David and Glenn live in Rancho Mirage, California, and plan to continue supporting LGBTQ+ Studies at UW-Madison.