The University of Missouri-Kansas City will honor Don Hall Jr., executive chairman of the board of directors at Hallmark, with the inaugural C. Stephen Metzler Pride Champion Award at the annual UMKC Pride Breakfast.

This award recognizes an individual (LGBTQIA+ or ally) who embodies Steve Metzler’s legacy of making Kansas City a better place for the LGBTQIA+ community through volunteerism, philanthropy and leading by example.

Hall was president and CEO of Hallmark, serving in that role from 2002 to 2019 when he became executive chairman. During his tenure as CEO, he made Hallmark the first founding corporate partner of the Mid-America Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (now Mid-America LGBT Chamber of Commerce) in Kansas City. He was instrumental in bringing diverse voices to the table across the civic landscape to champion support for the LGBTQIA+ community.

Hallmark’s commitment to inclusion is part of its long-standing beliefs and values; it has consistently ranked as a top company to work for as acknowledged by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equality Index – the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQIA+ workplace equality.

“We’re thrilled to present Don Hall Jr. with the inaugural C. Stephen Metzler Pride Champion Award,” said UMKC Chancellor Mauli Agrawal. “Don is truly an example of what it means to be inclusive, and his efforts have made Kansas City a better place for our students and all of us to live. We are proud to honor his legacy here.”

The 2023 Pride Breakfast is 7:30 to 9 a.m. Oct. 10 in Swinney Center. Tickets can be purchased at umkc.edu/pride.

Since 2008, the UMKC Pride Breakfast has raised more than $600,000 to support LGBTQIA+ students at UMKC and shows our university’s support of, and commitment to, LGBTQIA+ students on campus. Funds from the UMKC Pride Breakfast are critical to support programs and scholarships for LGBTQIA+ students — including the Pride Empowerment Fund, which provides emergency assistance to students who experience financial difficulty due to the loss of family support.