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tions (schools, governments, private, community and friends who en- But it was in college where most of
etc.) continue to fail to embrace abled him to grow in new ways his interest in the sciences came to
and, more importantly, include the while keeping his sense of self and fruition.
power of diversity. There was also a spirituality intact. During our con- Skidmore College offered a
brief flashback to Biology 101: bio- versation about camp, he recalled uniquely interdisciplinary environ-
diversity ensures survival, for Pete’s a quote by Bernard Meltzer from ment rooted in a core class — The
sake! memory, “A friend is someone who Human Experience — which ex-
knows the song of your soul and plored every possible facet of the
BECOMING sings it back to you when you’ve for- human being. Going in, Patridge
Patridge lived in a relatively ho- gotten the words.” I suppose he was already had a great interest in learn-
mogenous community in Connecti- saying the camp experience was like ing more about the world, and this
cut and had a patrician upbringing having a place to remember who course took his interests to anoth-
steeped in learning, service and you are. er level. The momentary blurring
religion. His family valued educa- By his senior year in high school, of boundaries across differences
tion and encouraged him to pursue and two years of summer theater to see what would emerge and the
different interests. In addition to camp, Patridge had written and exploration of seemingly disparate
being academically inclined, he also produced a play titled “Lessons perspectives to gain new insights is
played the clarinet, French horn, Worth Dying For”, a drama about a technique he relies on today. The
cymbals, and xylophone. He was a high school, manipulative relation- science courses he took all used the
Boy Scout. He even served on the ships and drug use. He enjoyed the human being as context. “We did a
altar for seven years. His mother experience of bringing a group of lot of orthogonal learning,” he said.
started family mass at their local people together around a creative He was well on his way.
parish, and his grandfather helped idea.
to cultivate and grow the Third He briefly returned to playwrit- EXISTENCE
Order of St. Francis in the state of ing in graduate school, this time There are two experiences that
New York. an allegorical play about the Bible, Patridge shared that explain so el-
Patridge’s youth, however, was specifically Genesis, in which he ex- oquently what it feels like to truly
not without its challenges. High plores the creationism/religion ver- belong. Talking about his first Pride
school was particularly difficult. He sus evolution/science debate. in NYC he paused several times,
experienced the peer pressure remi- “It’s funny to me that scientists it was “hard to communicate how
niscent of the extremes portrayed in like to fight against creationism,” it feels to be yourself for a whole
high school teen movies and strug- he said. “You have people who fight weekend and do nothing but cele-
gled to find a sense of place and against evolution. And I’ve to come brate that for the first time. Because
community given his keen intellect to this understanding that makes me when you’re at a Pride event, it ends
and musicianship. He also wrestled feel like they’re one and the same.” up being the first time that you feel
between his religious upbringing, Patridge purposefully left the like you’re in an environment and a
his faith and his emerging sexuality. play unfinished because he wants to place that honors you and respects
He painfully realized in that small tackle it after he has more life expe- you, values you and wants you to
community at that time, “Science, rience and a better perspective. have the best time that you can...
religion and sexuality didn’t mix as I asked Patridge when he be- and sees who you are and [you]
well as I’d hoped they would,” he came interested in science, partic- know it.”
said. ularly chemistry because all signs His first time at an Out&Equal
It was a six-week summer the- seemed to point to him studying Summit, he had a similar emotion-
atre camp and the thriving artistic theater in college. The spark was an al experience, this time in a pro-
community within it that provided AP chemistry class in his senior year fessional setting. IBM sent him to
both salve and sanctuary. The com- of high school. It was the first year Out&Equal and to participate in
munity brought together different the class was taught at his school a roundtable event at the Human
types of kids with different artistic and he had a particularly excep- Rights Campaign. He said IBM
interests. They were open to people tional teacher. His teacher had a “took care” of them, black cars
who had different interests, not just Ph.D. in Chemistry, invested in the shuttling them to and fro in DC,
the interests themselves—the magic inaugural class of six students with hotels and meals and it “made me
was in the diversity. Saturday classes and extra time that want to share this with other peo-
There, Patridge found a safe was inspirational to them as well. ple,” he said. The experience made

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