Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit

Director of Syracuse University’s new LGBT resource center wants to provide safe place and support for students, faculty and staff

Friday, August 31, 2001, By News Staff
Share

Director of Syracuse University’s new LGBT resource center wants to provide safe place and support for students, faculty and staffAugust 31, 2001Cynthia J. Moritzcjmoritz@syr.edu

When she came out as a lesbian during her freshman year at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Adrea Jaehnig felt “very alone. The visibility that lesbian and gay people have today just didn’t exist in the 80s,” she says.

There were no campus organizations to help her come to terms with her newly- acknowledged self. As a result, Jaehnig says, she found support mostly in bars. “Not the most healthy or safe places to get it,” she comments. Recalling that time in her life is one reason she is committed to providing a safe place for others who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered (LGBT) or questioning their sexuality.

“I would like to save someone from that feeling of being alone, that there is no safe person to talk to,” Jaehnig says.

That commitment is a big part of the reason Jaehnig was chosen as the first director of the University’s LGBT Resource Center, which will open in October. An eight-year employee of the Office of Residence Life, Jaehnig had been the staff adviser to PRIDE Union, an undergraduate LGBT organization, and Rainbow Alliance, an organization of LGBT Residence Life staff. She was also a member of the University Senate’s committee that recommended the creation of the office.

Jaehnig started out in Residence Life as a complex director, eventually becoming an assistant director of the office, then associate director. She has a bachelor’s degree in education and human services from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and a master’s in higher education and student affairs from the University of Vermont. She hopes to finish work for a doctorate in higher education and student affairs administration from SU by December.

“Adrea has always been an advocate for change within the Office of Residence Life, and she’s always been interested in issues of diversity,” says Senior Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs Barry L. Wells. “I’m not surprised she emerged as the top candidate for this position. I think she’s capable of building this program from the ground up.”

Jaehnig will report to James Duah-Agyeman, the University’s new director of multicultural affairs, who sees educating the community and providing a safe place for LGBT students, staff and faculty as two of the center’s most important objectives. “She is a strong leader. I’m looking forward to working with her,” he says.

The Senate’s Ad Hoc Committee on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns was created in 1998, after then-student Jordan Potash proposed establishment of a Rainbow Task Force to deal with issues of concern to the campus’ LGBT population. While SU had several LGBT student organizations, there was no official support for LGBT students from the University. Potash submitted his proposal to Wells, who decided that it was more than a student issue. Wells suggested to the Senate Agenda Committee that it establish the ad hoc committee

The committee held open forums, conducted campus surveys and gathered information about efforts to support the LGBT populations at other universities. It also invited Vernon Wall, assistant dean of students and director of student affairs at Iowa State University, to facilitate discussion of LGBT concerns. Wall is a nationally-known speaker on LGBT issues.

The committee concluded that the atmosphere on campus for members of the LGBT community was “chilly.” It recommended creation and staffing of the resource center, along with other actions, such as:

  • giving the ad hoc committee permanent status;
  • developing policies and procedures to support LGBT students;
  • adding courses in LGBT studies;
  • providing workshops for faculty and staff members to learn about LGBT issues;
  • educating students in residence halls and student organizations; and
  • making an effort to hire more faculty and staff who are openly LGBT.

The resource center, which will serve students, staff and faculty, will start out in the basement of the health center. Though all involved acknowledge that the location is not ideal, they felt it was more important to get the center started than to wait for a better space to become available.

“We’re committed to finding adequate space for the resource center,” says Wells, “but we wanted to move on this as quickly as possible.”

Jaehnig says she will initially spend a lot of time talking and listening to students, faculty and staff to help her set priorities for the resource center. Among her goals are to make people aware of the center’s existence; set up support groups; help bring LGBT faculty and staff together through communications and activities; and to raise awareness of LGBT issues through such means as bringing in guest speakers, putting together social and arts events and creating programs in residence halls.

“People are already more aware of LGBT issues just through the fact that the resource center is being established,” she says. “We hope to build on that.”

###

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Vice Admiral responds to Biden’s trip to Asia
    Tuesday, May 24, 2022, By Vanessa Marquette
  • Rockell Brown Burton Joins Newhouse School as Associate Dean of Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility
    Monday, May 23, 2022, By Wendy S. Loughlin
  • Corinne Sartori Joins Libraries as Accessibility Specialist
    Monday, May 23, 2022, By Cristina Hatem
  • Eight New Recruits Begin Campus Peace Officer Academy
    Thursday, May 19, 2022, By Christine Weber
  • Media Tip Sheet: Consequences of China Lockdown
    Thursday, May 19, 2022, By Vanessa Marquette

More In Uncategorized

Vice Admiral responds to Biden’s trip to Asia

If you are looking for an expert in military and intelligence issues, please see comments from retired Vice Admiral Robert Murrett regarding President Biden’s trip to Asia and the mention of the “United States would intervene militarily if China attempts to…

Syracuse Views Spring 2022

We want to know how you experience Syracuse University. Take a photo and share it with us. We select photos from a variety of sources. Submit photos of your University experience using #SyracuseU on social media, fill out a submission…

“Alexis Patterson has been missing since 2002. Odds are you don’t know her story.”

Research from Carol Liebler, professor of communications in the Newhouse School, was featured in the USA Today story “Alexis Patterson has been missing since 2002. Odds are you don’t know her story.” Liebler studies media coverage of missing children and…

“Even as COVID cases rise, mask mandates stay shelved”

David Larsen, associate professor of public health in the Falk College, was quoted in The Associated Press article “Even as COVID cases rise, mask mandates stay shelved.” Larsen, who is an expert on epidemiology, explained that intense mask mandates will…

“J.C. Penney is reinventing itself. Again.”

Ray Wimer, professor of retail practice in the Whitman School, was quoted in the Retail Dive story “J.C. Penney is reinventing itself. Again.” Wimer, who studies retail marketing and planning, explained that J.C. Penney’s current efforts to rebrand itself may…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2022 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.