It was only fitting to conduct our interview with Jeff Gerson ’12 via Skype. A technology and social media whiz, this 21-year old defies traditional Stanford labeling of “techie” or “fuzzy.” English major and Facebook intern? That’s Jeff.
First, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Jeff: “So I’m a senior (Oh-twelve!) majoring in English with an interdisciplinary emphasis in Queer Studies. Originally from North Eastern Pennsylvania but sort of by way of Los Angeles. My dad moved there when I was 10 so I’ve grown up bicoastally.”
What are you involved in on campus?
“I interned at the LGBT-CRC my freshman year, and then became the house manager there my sophomore year and kept that up through junior year as well,” says Jeff, “Last year I was also the Residential Writing Tutor in Soto House, and will be continuing as a drop-in tutor at Hume Writing Center this year as well. I also do freelance tutoring for high school kids in Palo Alto in my spare time.” And don’t forget Publicity Manager for student-led independent music venture The Red Couch Project. So, basically everything?
How did you get involved in the LGBT-CRC?
As a freshman, Jeff began attending events hosted by the LGBT-CRC. Taking on leadership roles in the No on Prop 8 movement and ultimately becoming the freshman liaison, Jeff certainly asserted himself early. Spearheading training for the largest phone bank initiative with Megaphonebank, Jeff claims, “was nuts.” Once house manager, Jeff’s main goal became “making sure that we had a cohesive staff and that we were always a welcoming and friendly presence for everyone on campus, LGBT or straight ally, undergrad or grad, politically active or not, whatever. And making sure that they could find access to the resources they needed throughout the university either within the LGBT-CRC or upwards.” Creating an admit liaison program to ease the freshmen into campus surely doesn’t hurt. Going forward, Jeff hopes the CRC can maximize its social media presence and maintain a welcoming place on campus for all. Yet, he must relinquish the reins as house manager as he departs to study abroad in Oxford.
Why Oxford? What are you most excited for?
“Working on my honors thesis! Woohoo! So it’s actually pretty unusual for a senior to be going abroad, ESPECIALLY when writing an honors thesis in English since you’re supposed to be on campus for the seminar. The English department and my advisor have been gracious enough to give me approval to go even during the fall. I’ll be studying psychoanalytic theory to help back up my thesis, as well as using being in England as a way of sampling another data set. I’m writing my honors thesis on restroom graffiti and what we can learn by considering those inscriptions as formal texts. I’m specifically looking at homoerotic graffiti and the way that it reveals insight into the male psyche. (Fun fact: It was my PWR1 RBA)”
Was an English major always part of the plan?
I actually came in as a Linguistics major (womp) but decided to pursue the Interdisciplinary Studies track in the English department, but sadly they cut that entire department during the budget crisis so I sort of reinvented it through English and am looking at doing a CoTerm in MTL (Modern Thought and Literature), which would have been my track in that major to begin with.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Stanford chapter.