$1 Million Gift to Journalism School Will Go Toward LGBT Education

A distinguished alumnus of the University of Missouri's School of Journalism last week pledged a $1 million gift for the specific purpose of research and education on the issues that matter most to LGBT people.

Timothy Blair, a 1973 graduate of Missouri's journalism school, made the pledge from his estate in the hopes of better training the next generation of journalists on LGBT issues, reports Missouri newspaper the Columbia Daily Tribune. He announced the gift to a small crowd that gathered at MU's Student Center Friday afternoon, reports the Tribune.

Blair worked for several St. Louis companies in marketing and public relations. He has a gay nephew, and he said conversations with the nephew helped him make up his mind about the gift. "It became apparent that the passion I have about LGBT rights, and being a gay man myself ... I wanted to put my money where my mouth is," Blair said.

"LGBT civil rights has been among the most significant social topics of the past several decades," Dean Mills, dean of the School of Journalism, said of Blair's gift. "And it's important that our future journalists are educated to cover those issues with the same tradition of accuracy and fact finding that has been a hallmark of the School of Journalism."