20th annual Burnside Watstein Awards celebrate community and LGBTQ+ pride

By Amelia Heymann

A staff member who carried Equality VCU through the pandemic and a community member who brings to life spaces of queer joy were among the recipients of the 20th annual Burnside Watstein Awards on March 26.

This year's keynote speaker was Arturo Saavedra, M.D., Ph.D., interim executive vice president and provost at VCU and previously the dean of the VCU School of Medicine and executive vice president for medical affairs for VCU. Saavedra told attendees that he grew up on a small island where he thought that who he was would make his parents unhappy, and where he learned to believe that he was more likely to die of AIDS than to do anything else.

"So I am here today in this incredible role that most people said I could never reach, talking to the very community that raised me," Saavedra said.

He said the way the LGBTQ+ community redefines community and family is powerful. He said it's because of this community that he lost the fear that marked his childhood.

"Thank you for this wonderful invitation, and I'm glad we have the opportunity to really celebrate what matters tonight -- which is pride," Saavedra said.

Arturo Saavedra, M.D., Ph.D., interim executive vice president and provost at VCU, was this year's keynote speaker. (Kirk Nawrotzky, Office of Development and Alumni Relations)

The awards program launched in the 2007-08 academic year and is named for Chris Burnside and Sarah Weinstein, the former co-chairs of what is now Equality VCU. In addition to being the 20th year of the awards, 2026 also marks the 50th anniversary of the hard-fought recognition of the Gay Alliance of Students, VCU's first LGBTQ+ student organization that had to sue the university to be formally recognized.

In line with the theme of community, all awardees were announced and presented their awards by past Burnside Watstein Award recipients. The awards ceremony, which was open to everyone in the community, was held at James Branch Cabell Library and livestreamed via Zoom.

"This awards ceremony becomes more and more important as we engage with our chosen community and chosen family," said Archana Pathak, Ph.D., the 2018 recipient of the Staff Award and an associate professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies, part of the College of Humanities and Sciences.

Here are this year's winners:

Newman Staff Award

This year's Staff Award was not only given to Dae Newman, the academic affairs coordinator for VCU School of the Arts, but has also been named after him and will now be known as the Burnside Watstein - Newman Staff Award.

Newman is a VCU alum, writer and dedicated LGBTQ+ activist. Serving as a long-time co-chair of Equality VCU, Newman overhauled the organization's bylaws and leadership structures. Since 2015, Newman has been a lead trainer for VCU's Safe Zone program, sensitizing thousands of faculty, staff and students to the nuances of sexual orientation and gender identity. They have also been a driving force behind cornerstone events such as Lavender Graduation and the Burnside Watstein Awards.

"Dae's greatest contribution in the LGBTQ+ community comes in the form of sustaining the survival of Equality VCU through the COVID-19 pandemic, where they served as the single chair, the single person within the leadership team for a few years," said Donna Coghill, the 2012 recipient of the award. "They ensured Equality VCU continued to have an active voice on campus."

Newman said navigating the pandemic was hard because in addition to the in-person disruptions it caused, there were also several long-term members who had retired or changed careers during that period.

"I really felt a strong responsibility as the guardian of Equality VCU to make sure that it did survive and that we were able to bring in the community," Newman said.

Newman said they were honored and surprised by the renaming of the award and added they felt they have gained much more from Equality VCU than they have given it.

Faculty Award

Yiwen Wei is an assistant professor and graduate program director in the Department of Art Education in the School of the Arts. Wei has dedicated her career to dismantling institutional homophobia and transphobia through intersectional research, teaching and international service.

She leads the universitywide study, "Identifying Needs and Supporting First-Gen, LGBTQ+ Students at VCU," a trans-disciplinary project funded by the You First office. Wei's work systematically addresses the gap between administrative resources and the lived realities of queer, first-generation and AAPI students.

Wei served on the NAEA LGBTQ+ Special Interest Group and as the director of international affairs at the World Chinese Arts Education Association.

Wei was unable to accept the award in person because she was out of the country. Instead, her partner came and shared a few words on Wei's behalf.

"This award, especially for the contribution of LGBTQ research, means a great deal to her, particularly at a time when the value of diversity, equity and inclusion is being challenged," Wei's partner said. "On her behalf, thank you for this meaningful honor. It will continue to inspire her work."

2026 also marks the 50th anniversary of the hard-fought recognition of the Gay Alliance of Students, VCU's first LGBTQ+ student organization that had to sue the university to be formally recognized. (Kirk Nawrotzky, Office of Development and Alumni Relations)

Student Award

Alice Warren is a dual-degree Pharm.D. and Ph.D. candidate in the School of Pharmacy who researches the intersectional impacts of HIV, opioid use disorder and sex on neurocognitive outcomes. As a member of the McRae Lab, Warren has been an advocate for the inclusion of transgender perspectives in preclinical research, ensuring that understudied populations are represented.

Warren is the co-president of PrideRx, a student organization aiming to uplift pharmacy health care services for queer patients and to connect LGBTQ+ health care students and providers.

Within the community, Warrant translates complex clinical data into accessible harm-reduction education at local Richmond venues and drag performances.

Warren said during these increasingly hostile times, it's more important than ever to be an active participant in the LGBTQ+ community. She added because of the support she's received, even after being abandoned by her family after transitioning, Warren has been able to thrive in Richmond.

"This chosen community of Richmond has been nothing but the truest form of family that exists in a way that families can't always imagine," Warren said.

Alumni Award

Connie Kottmann earned an Advanced Certificate in Nonprofit Management from VCU's Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs in 2024. They are a communications manager with the Division of Student Affairs at VCU and have worked with the university for nearly 23 years. They lead high-impact campaigns using inclusive storytelling to ensure diverse identities are affirmed and celebrated at an institutional level.

As the vice chair of Rams for PRIDE and communications chair for Equality VCU, Kottmann works to amplify LGBTQIA+ voices, strengthen support networks and build a workplace culture grounded in pride and inclusion. Beyond VCU they serve as a leader in the Richmond chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.

Kottmann said they didn't come out to themselves as queer until 2017. It was then Kottmann said they were able live fully as their true self - in part thanks to the support system they had at the university.

"Once I moved into my own truth, I started to find community and that was here at VCU as well as in Richmond," Kottmann said. "But it has been such a great honor to work with people and to mentor people and to be able to give back to the university that made it safe for me to come out."

Community Award

Grayson Arthurs is the community engagement and events coordinator with He She Ze and We, a nonprofit that supports transgender and nonbinary people by empowering those around them to create life-saving, inclusive environments.

At He She Ze and We, Arthurs facilitates support programs for LGBTQ+ youth and their families. Arthurs' work ranges from grassroots, such as organizing a fundraiser that raised $61,000 for queer initiatives, to structural, such as serving as a medical liaison and vital link to gender-affirming care.

"It is the greatest gift to be able to truthfully say that I'm working my dream job," Arthurs said. "I get to give back to the community that has given me everything, and I get to be the person that I needed when I was growing up."

Grayson is most known for his "community heart" - being a "cheerleader" for those in transition and serving as a fixture in Richmond's queer art and drag scenes, often seen supporting his spouse or coordinating joy-filled events like the He She Ze and We Annual Dance Party.