Ronald Moore’s generosity toward MSU began in 1999 when he made his first gift to the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. Since then, he has made gifts every year to a number of areas that support students including the MSU Black Alumni Detroit Scholarship, the Unconditional Love Fund, the Gender and Sexuality Campus Center, and the Pride Endowment Scholarship Fund.
Ronald wanted to ensure that MSU students who are struggling with their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression have a safe place to go—especially LGBTQIA2S+ students of color.
Having earned three degrees from MSU—a bachelor’s, a master’s in counselling and a master's in labor and industrial relations, he says he will always be grateful for his MSU education—which provided him with the skill set to have a successful career in human resources. That included 26 years at the Hewlett Packard Company (HP) across several roles based in five different cities. He took an early retirement from HP, and spent seven years as vice president of HR at Safe Horizon, a New York City-based nonprofit.
His student years were a mixture of experiences. As an African American student in the 1970s, he dealt with being a minority. The saving grace was the support and comradery with other Black students, who numbered less than 4 percent of MSU’s student population at that time. He also joined a fraternity and still enjoys friendships created during those years.
But he lived with a secret: he was gay and didn’t want to be. A therapist tried to help him become heterosexual, an acceptable goal at the time because homosexuality was considered a behavioral disorder. It didn’t work.
Next, he joined a campus religious group of conservative Christians. The minister would lay hands on him to “pray the gay away.” It didn’t work.
Later, he found an inclusive church, embraced his sexuality, marched in many Pride Parades and had no intention of altering his orientation.
He says seeing the dedication and genuine support offered to MSU’s students today through the Gender and Sexuality Campus Center has been an inspiring experience.
In addition to his annual gifts, he has made a future gift to MSU from his estate which will support programs and initiatives that deal with racism in the LGBTQIA2S+ community and homophobia among people of color.
“I have a great peace of mind knowing that I will be able to help future MSU students like me,” says Ronald.
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
Students engage with the Gender and Sexuality Campus Center for many reasons—and when they do, they are met with a community that supports and affirms who they are.
Thanks to gifts to the Unconditional Love Fund, the GSCC was able to provide immediate financial assistance to help students in need, to cover living expenses that supported their health, wellness and safety this school year. In 2024, more than 80 received assistance from the Unconditional Love Fund, and it made all the difference.
"I do not have a financial support system in place to fall back on because my parents do not accept that I am queer. This fund was just what I needed during my lowest point this year,” says one very grateful recipient. “I plan to contribute to this fund once I have the means to because it had such a positive impact on my life."