2025 Sturgis Award recipient – Jonny Gray, second from left, was honored with the 2025 Lindell W. Sturgis Memorial Public Service Award. With Gray, from left, are SIU President Daniel Mahony, SIU Board of Trustees Chair J. Phil Gilbert and SIU Carbondale Chancellor Austin A. Lane. (Photo by Russell Bailey)
April 17, 2025
Environmental, LGBTQ+ advocate receives SIU’s 2025 Sturgis Award
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Jonny Gray, an associate professor in communication studies at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, was “really humbled and honored” to learn he has received the 2025 Lindell W. Sturgis Award.
A longtime advocate for both the LGBTQ+ and environmental communities, Gray said the recognition carries a deeper meaning — an affirmation of the university’s commitment to anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion.
In recognition of his volunteer work to support numerous LGBTQ+ organizations, Gray received the Sturgis Award during today’s (April 17) SIU Board of Trustees meeting. Presented since 1980, the award honoring the late Lindell Sturgis, a Metropolis native who served more than 30 years on the board, recognizes SIU Carbondale employees for public service unrelated to their jobs.
“I really loved receiving this award,” Gray said. “I felt seen and honored, but more than that, I felt like the work that we do that so many people who I care about do — sometimes seemingly in the shadows without recognition to try and promote the health, welfare and safety of people who feel oppressed or otherwise not recognized — felt seen, acknowledged and made important to what the university does. In a time like this, that is so meaningful to me, and I hope it is meaningful to others.”
Working for a better community
Gray’s involvement includes as founding member and workshop leader with Beloved Puppetistas and the All-Species Puppet Parade; founding member and treasurer of SOIL Sisters/Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence; host and archivist of the “Isn’t it Queer” radio program and podcast, and as a participant of Gay Spirits of Vision, an organization that assists gay and bisexual men in connecting with their spirituality.
Gray “has long believed that service to one’s community, both near and far, is an essential aspect of personal growth, connectedness to community and building healthy relationships not just with other humans but with the surrounding environment,” Rebecca Walker Anderson, associate professor and director in the School of Communication Studies, stated in her nomination.
Has been with SIU 26 years
Gray has been with SIU Carbondale since 1999. Before that, he taught at Hofstra University for a couple of years and was a visiting instructor at St. Lawrence University.
This is the third time Gray was nominated for the award. He said given the nation’s “current climate,” he didn’t expect to be selected this year.
“The safe choice would not be to recognize the service of somebody that committed to both LGBTQ and DEI initiatives,” Gray said. “There are so many people who do so much good work in the community beyond their employment.”
Communication is essential
From his work with Beloved Puppetistas and the All-Species Puppet Parade to the weekly hourlong radio show on WDBX and podcast, the essential element is communication to all communities, he said. It is an essential component and guides much of Gray’s work
“The current SIU administration is very good about being connected to Southern Illinois,” he said. “For myself personally, and as part of this institution, I want that bond to be as strong as possible. I want us to really be connected to our community.”
Volunteer spirit
The puppet making program and accompanying parade on Earth Day since 2013 provided six weeks of puppet making workshops and the opportunity for talk about the importance of environmental awareness and stewardship, Gray said. However, this year’s event is on hiatus, due to a lack of funding. Organizers hope to bring it back in the future.
The Southern Illinois chapter of Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence celebrates diversity and works with other LGBTQ+ community organizations in the region on everything from fundraisers to helping people who are experiencing shame or guilt. SOIL Sisters members have helped organize a clothing closet at the Rainbow Café LGBTQ Center in Carbondale to hosting a Sister Story Time series on YouTube, where members read affirming stories that celebrate diversity in all of its forms.
Gray has hosted “Isn’t It Queer,” an LGBTQ+ news and interview program since 2013. The weekly show averages 45 to 48 original episodes a year, and Gray said he enjoys being able to connect with the community along with the role the program plays in informing listeners of global and national news and providing a regional perspective as well as helping to debunk false information.
“We are always there for events and things that are happening and encourage folks to come on,” he said. “When we are not doing that, we will do special topic shows that might be of interest and educational to the public,”
Significance of the award
Gray said he is very thankful that SIU and the state support the LGBTQ+ community. The award shows that “we are going to lean into and try to show the value of advocacy for minority populations and at-risk populations — the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion, and resist this banalization of it in an attempt to get rid of it.”
“There is a part of me that really feels the charge to live up to and to continue that presence in whatever way the award affords that or in my regular work every day to continue to be the community that we want to be,” Gray said.
Gray and his spouse, Craig Gingrich-Philbook, also a professor in the communication studies program, live in Makanda.