The SIGnboard

The Harvard Alumni Association has approved more than 30 Shared Interest Groups; a complete list appears at http://post.harvard.edu/harvard/ clubs/html/SIGdir.shtml. Harvard Magazine invites SIGs to share news of their activities in this space. (Send items to classnotes@harvard.edu, using SIG in the “class year” line.)

First Generation Harvard Alumni

We are seeking alums who might want to mentor incoming First Generation students during the 2013-2014 academic year. Mentors, who ideally will be first generation themselves (i.e., members of the first generation of their immediate families to graduate from a four-year U.S. college), commit to meeting monthly (either in person or through a means such as Skype) during the course of the year with a first-year first-generation student. If interested either in being a mentor, or in the First Generation Harvard Alumni SIG in general, please e-mail founder Kevin Jennings ’85 at kevin@kevinjennings.com.

Harvard Gender and Sexuality Caucus

HGSC and its partner groups present a range of summer activities, including those listed here. In the East, the eighth annual LGBTQ Post-Pride Mixer (All-Ivy & Friends) takes place at the Yale Club of New York City on July 2 (details at http://goo.gl/SMFjd). Or gather for mixed cocktails in Provincetown (Mass.) on July 5 (http://tigernet.princeton.edu/~ffr-gala/Events2013/130705Ptown.html) or on July 12 at the Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan (http://tigernet.princeton.edu/~ffr-gala/Events2013/130712NYC.html). In California, on July 17, the LGBT Ivy Young Alumni Mixer takes place in West Hollywood (http://tigernet.princeton.edu/~ffr-gala/Events2013/130717SoCal.html). On July 18, there will be a Co-Ed LGBT Alumni Mixer at Club OMG in San Francisco (http://goo.gl/ptpYx).

Harvardwood 

The Harvardwood Writers’ Competition is back! Polish up those screenplays, TV pilots, and plays for this annual contest, created to recognize superior work and give emerging Harvard writers a chance for industry exposure. Scripts are evaluated by industry professionals; the first-place winner receives a small cash award and free admission to the Harvardwood Writers’ Program. The deadline is August 15; for details, visit the writers’ section at www.harvardwood.org. Harvardwood NY presents its Classical Salon Series in New York on July 2: pianist Yelena Grinberg performs Bach’s Goldberg Variations in her home. On July 24, it’s Romantic Jazz for a Summer Evening, with singer Melissa Stylianou and a trio including tenor sax player Joel Frahm. And on August 14, hear Nigel West, widely considered Britain’s leading writer on true-fact espionage, discuss “Espionage 101—How the International Espionage Community Works.” On July 20, join Harvardwood’s Washington, D.C., chapter at the Capital Fringe Festival to see Tragedy Averted, a comedy by Alexandra Petri ’ 10. And on August 29, Harvardwood’s Chicago chapter hosts the Chicago International Social Change Film Festival’s Meet the Founders & Preview Screening. The festival showcases films from around the world that inspire people to create social change. Visit the Events section of www.harvardwood.org for details on all these programs.