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Notre Dame gay group to give award to NHL executive Burke

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – The Gay and Lesbian Alumni/ae of the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College plan to honor an NHL executive who helped launch the You Can Play Project in honor of his younger brother.

Patrick Burke will receive the Thomas A. Dooley Award on April 10 in South Bend. The award honors individuals who have demonstrated personal courage, compassion and commitment to advance the human and civil rights of lesbian and gay Americans.

Burke helped found You Can Play, which seeks to combat anti-gay prejudice in sports. Burke started the organization in honor of his brother, Brendan, who revealed he was gay to his family in 2007 and died in a car accident in Indiana in 2010.

Patrick Burke is director of player safety for the NHL.