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UNH’s annual Pride and Pancakes breakfast celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community was held Wednesday, April 8, in front of the largest crowd in years – about 175 guests in-person and online – and was highlighted by the awarding of the Bill Kidder LGBTQIA+ Awards and an emotional send-off for Nadine Petty, who is leaving her role as associate vice president for community, civil rights and compliance at the end of the academic year.

The celebration – formerly known as the LGBTQ+ and Ally Pancake Breakfast – was held in the Granite State Room in the MUB and was streamed online for virtual attendees. This year’s event marked the 33rd annual gathering.

Nadine Petty was recognized with the first-ever honorary Kidder Award.

Petty – who is leaving after six years at UNH – was surprised toward the end of the event with the first-ever honorary Kidder Award. Amanda Harvey from the Office of Community, Civil Rights and Compliance offered an emotional, heartfelt introduction of the award, celebrating Petty’s achievements as well as her personal impact on members of the UNH community from a variety of underrepresented groups.

“She has been a sounding board for many members of our community and a pillar of hope for so many of us at a time when our identities were being questioned. As we prepare for her departure from UNH, we are left with endless gratitude for the lessons we have learned from her thought leadership and allyship,” Harvey said. “As you transition to another chapter, please know that the community you have cultivated will continue to grow, through the ongoing work of those you believed in, resourced, and raised up.”

Petty received a long ovation before taking the stage to accept the award.

“This was a big surprise. Pride and Pancakes has always been one of my, if not my, favorite event. Just take a look around you, and you’ll see why,” Petty said. “This is a space of vibrancy, of acceptance, of a celebration of love. I just want to say how thankful I am to be able to have been a part of this for six years, and how encouraged I am to know that this will continue to go on.” 

The morning was kicked off with a welcome from UNH President Elizabeth Chilton, who also offered her gratitude for the work Petty has done in her remarks and who celebrated the significance of the breakfast’s long history.

“I am really grateful for this tradition that UNH has been a part of for more than three decades. I think that sas something about the importance of the community and the care that people take and have taken at this institution year after year in strengthening our inclusive culture.”

Chilton introduced the keynote speaker, Mason Dunn, a UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law graduate and the director of organizing, outreach, and community engagement for the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.

Dunn addressed the current climate for members of the LGBTQIA+ community and focused on three key points – vulnerability, authenticity, and accountability – as ways to persevere. 

“The cruelties of today’s world, they feel overwhelming at times. When it all feels too much, too overwhelming, I invite you to ground yourself by just being you – vulnerable, authentic, and accountable to your communities,” Dunn said. “You are enough – whole and perfect in yourself.”

Here is the full list of awardees from the celebration:

2025 Kidder Award Recipients

Staff Award: Mae Flibotte (they/them)

Faculty Award: Emily Lusenhop (she/they)

Undergraduate Student Award: Jordan Edwards (he/they) and Liv Macneil (she/they)

Graduate Student Award: Cara Cabral (they/them)

Pink Triangle Award: UNH Speech Language Hearing Center