“Time will tell” story wins CASE District 8 award

A Clark alumnus is in the spotlight again.

Winner for “Time will tell” and recipient of an Opportunity & Inclusion Endorsement.

George Oberg Jr.’s inspiring story about how he shaped the Pacific Northwest LGBTQIA+ movement won a bronze award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District 8. The feature story “Time will tell” appeared in the spring 2020 edition of Clark Partners magazine.

Additionally, the story was recognized with an Opportunity and Inclusion Endorsement from CASE District 8 for the topic and writers.

“We felt this was a strong story, tackling a very critical issue in society today. This was a good way to profile how one alumnus impacted the movement,” said the judges of the award when it was announced in January 2021.

The feature story, which was also the cover story for the spring edition, was written by Joel B. Munson, chief advancement officer for Clark College Foundation, with editorial assistance from Deon Gillespie, a freelance feature writer and media consultant based in Denver.

Oberg’s 50 years of activism began with the fundamentals he learned at Clark College. Oberg, a 1958 alumnus, is a pioneer and a hero to many who helped bring about significant social and cultural change to the region. In the wake of the 1969 New York City Stonewall riots, Oberg and a close-knit group of people knew they needed to shake up the perception about LGBTQIA+ and take a stand.

Oberg accomplished a number of firsts in what today are referred to as LGBTQIA+ rights. He served as the founding president of a nonprofit known as The Second Foundation, which established Portland’s first official gay support organization and community center. In 1971, the Oregon Department of Education asked Oberg to talk to a group of teachers and counselors about gay and lesbian students—another first. Also in the early 1970s, Portland staged its first public gay gathering in the South Park Blocks, and soon Portland itself became something of a vanguard of gay activism, garnering attention from larger communities—some as far away as the East Coast.

In 2020, Oberg was again recognized for his activism when he received Clark College’s most prestigious alumni honor, the Outstanding Alumni Award. Watch a video of Oberg’s recognition.

This the second time Oberg’s story has received an award. In 2020, the Clark Partners magazine Oberg’s story appeared in received a distinguished 2020 Bronze Anvil Commendation from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), a national recognition.

The Opportunity and Inclusion Endorsement from CASE District 8 recognizes the story’s “visionary and insightful perspective about diverse populations and topics with respect to social justice, and/or confronting  and/or resolving inequities of individuals from underrepresented populations” as well as topics “written by individuals who are from under-represented populations,” according to the CASE District 8 Opportunity and Inclusion committee.

The story was written by Joel B. Munson, chief advancement officer at Clark College Foundation, and Deon Gillespie, a freelance writer based in Denver, Colo., both of whom are from diverse communities.

CASE District 8 represents the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada. Members are located in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, and Canada in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and the Northwest territories of Nunavut, Saskatchewan and Yukon.

The district includes large universities, medium and small colleges and community colleges, such as University of Washington, University of Oregon, Oregon State University, University of Portland, Clark College, Portland Community College, University of Calgary and Simon Fraser University.

Read more of our Clark Partners magazine issues.

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