30 | SEPTEMBER 23 • 2021 

OUR COMMUNITY

W

hen Howard Bragman was 
growing up in Flint, the city had 
a small but vibrant Jewish com-
munity, and he had a lot of family nearby. 
His family belonged to the old Beth Israel, a 
Conservative congregation. 
Still, growing up in the Midwest in the 
1960s, without a lot of peers or role models 
to look to, Bragman said he never quite fit 
in. “
As a fat, Jewish, gay kid in Flint, I always 
felt like a Martian,
” he said,
That all changed when he got to the 
University of Michigan.
“This campus allows you to be yourself. It 
allows you to spread your wings in the way 
you want to spread your wings,
” he said. 
Now a public relations expert and crisis 
manager, Bragman has gone on to a career 
of helping people — some quite famous — 
do just that, his approach to work and life 
formed in large part by his time on campus.
These days, Bragman is a member of Kol 
Ami, an LGBTQ temple in Los Angeles. He’s 
an activist and a philanthropist who said he’s 
doing what he learned growing up Jewish 
in Flint. 
“I saw what my parents did,
” he said. “I 
remember when Israel was under attack and 
them giving money at the shul. That’s what 
Jewish people have done. We have helped 
each other. I’ve always tried to help others, 
too.
” He’s often called upon by rabbis he 
knows to help people coming out in the Los 
Angeles community where he’s lived for the 
last 35 years.

COMING OUT
Bragman knows that even in a place as pro-
gressive as Ann Arbor, coming out as gay is 
a challenging journey.
“I tell people, ‘Stay strong, even when it 
hurts.
’ And, I promise, it hurts sometimes. 
But, there are places that will help you 
ease the pain sometimes. That’s what the 

Spectrum Center did,
” he said.
The Spectrum Center, the nation’s first 
LGBTQIA+ support center to be formed 
on a college campus, is celebrating its 50th 
anniversary this year. 
“When I needed help trying to under-
stand my own sexuality, it was there for me,
” 
he said. “I left accepting who I was.
” 
To make sure the center will continue 
providing support and guidance to U-M’s 
LGBTQIA+ community, Bragman has 
made a $1 million bequest to establish the 
Howard Bragman Coming Out Fund. The 
fund will be used to provide emergency 
financial assistance to students through the 
Spectrum Center, including help for mental 
and physical health services, short-term 
housing, long-term housing, transportation 
and tuition.

“I don’t care how liberal the school is. I 
don’t care how accepting and loving your 
parents are. I don’t care how ‘woke’ the times 
are. Coming out is this most personal of 
journeys, and it’s a challenging journey,
” he 
said. “It’s so important for students to know 
they are not alone and that the Spectrum 
Center is there for them. I want to assure 
that other people get that same access that I 
had: life-changing, life-saving access.
”
After graduating from U-M in 1978, 
Bragman went on to a prominent career 

in public relations and crisis management. 
After serving as a vice president in the 
Chicago and Los Angeles offices of Burson-
Marsteller Public Relations, he founded the 
media strategy and public relations firms 
Bragman Nyman Cafarelli and Fifteen 
Minutes, was a vice chairman of Reputation.
com, and currently runs La Brea Media 
in Los Angeles. A dynamic activist for 
LGBTQIA+ rights, he has earned acclaim 
for helping dozens of actors, athletes and 
executives come out as gay in the past 30 
years.
He said he hopes his gift inspires other 
alumni to give, but also hopes to raise 
awareness of what the Spectrum Center is.
“The Spectrum Center is certainly one 
area where Michigan is the leader and best,
” 
he said. “I hope this will let the students 

know that they have this extraordinary 
resource available to them.
”
Bragman is excited about the 50th anni-
versary celebration, which kicks off this fall 
and will culminate in a gala May 20, 2022. 
Bragman hopes to return to Michigan for 
the event. 

Ann Marie Aliotta works at the University of Michigan’s 

Office of University Development, where this story first 

appeared. Reprinted with permission. Additional report-

ing by Jackie Headapohl, JN Director of Editorial.

U-M Spectrum Center’s largest gift ever 
helps celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Million-Dollar 
‘Coming Out’ Fund

ANN MARIE ALIOTTA SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Howard 
Bragman

“I TELL PEOPLE, ‘STAY STRONG, EVEN WHEN IT 
HURTS.’ AND, I PROMISE, IT HURTS SOMETIMES. 
BUT, THERE ARE PLACES THAT WILL HELP YOU 
EASE THE PAIN SOMETIMES. THAT’S WHAT 

THE SPECTRUM CENTER DID.”

— HOWARD BRAGMAN

