Executive Committee
Don James McLaughlin
President
University of Tulsa
Don James McLaughlin is an assistant professor of 19th-century and early American literature at The University of Tulsa. Specializing in the medical humanities, disability theory, and queer literature, he has published on the importance of disability history to understanding the life and writing of poet Walt Whitman. His book in progress explores the development of phobia as an available social and psychological diagnosis among writers ranging from Cotton Mather to Frederick Douglass. While completing his PhD, he partnered with Women’s History Curator Connie King to create an exhibit on LGBTQ history at the Library Company of Philadelphia titled “That’s So Gay: Outing Early America.” In his free time, Don James enjoys rock climbing, gardening, traveling, and playing fetch with his dog Parker. A dedicated advocate for queer interfaith representation in higher ed, Don James is honored to be joining the Little Blue House community.
Lexi Bollis
Vice President
City of Tulsa
Lexi Bollis has lived in Tulsa for over seven years and is proud to call it home. She moved here with Teach for America and taught Kindergarten and 1st Grade in Tulsa Public Schools. She went on to lead Tulsa Area United Way’s volunteer programs and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategy for five years. Currently, she works at City of Tulsa as the Resilience and Equity Program Administrator. Originally from St. Louis, Lexi earned her B.A. in English, Creative Writing from Kenyon College in 2017. She has since studied and earned her credentials as a Certified Diversity Professional. Her biggest accomplishment, however, is her role as cat mom to Jackie. Lexi is proud to serve on the Little Blue House Board and promote peace, justice, and equity in our community.
Eddie Careno
Treasurer
QuikTrip
Linda Davis
Secretary
Planned Parenthood Great Plains
Linda is a Tulsa native who earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Southern Methodist University and her Master of Arts in Nonprofit Management at Goucher College. She has served in the Tulsa nonprofit community for nearly 20 years—with six of them being the executive director for the Little Blue House! In her spare time, Linda is a dancer with Oklahoma Movement, an avid consumer of all things true crime, and spends time with her human and animal children. Linda is a staunch activist for women’s, LGTBQ, and environmental rights, amongst other causes. Linda is also the reigning 2x champion of the Little Blue Lip Sync competition. She would like for you to challenge her next year!
Members-at-Large
Vincent Blount
University of Tulsa Student
PRIDE at TU President
Danika Bryant
University of Tulsa
Danika is an English Language and Literature PhD student, having received a BA in English from Hannibal LaGrange University, and an MA in English Language and Literature from TU. Their primary research interest is that of queer theory with a focus on homosociality and the space for transgender identities within it. Current projects include a paper on Deborah Sampson, as well as the transgression of gender binaries & boundaries within the long 19th Century American literature, and studying for field exams.
Jake Crystal
University of Tulsa
Jacob (Jake) Crystal is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Tulsa. Specializing in Victorian queer ecology, the Gothic, and gender and sexuality studies, he has published on the importance of water for queer relationships in Lady Audley’s Secret to better understand queer people before the advent of sexological studies. His book project traces queer ecological depictions from 1826-1928 by focusing on writers such as Mary Shelley and Radclyffe Hall and it is currently in the proposal stage at the University of Illinois Press. While working on his MA he directed a documentary, Herland: Creating Wimmin’s Community, that covered the oral history of the Herland Sister Resources, a non-profit grassroots organization that supported the women’s community in Oklahoma City. It can be found for free on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
M. Wright
University of Tulsa