Favorite:
- Place on Campus: Summit House living room
- Thing about Bucknell: My Starting 5 (My 5 favorite professors on campus), my friends, the access to so many important resources.
- Class: Any class with Carmen Gillespie or Shara McCallum
- Freez Flavor: BOSTON milkshake. Just because it says Boston.
4 Fun Facts
- I’m in LOVE with Beyonce.
- I like to write and freestyle raps.
- I hate pretzels.
- Kendrick Lamar. Period.
1. How did you get involved with LGBT programs and discussions at Bucknell?
As a person who identifies as queer in conversation, I’ve always been somewhat drawn to LGBT-oriented organizations and discussions, etc. However, I couldn’t find a space on campus that could reconcile all or even most of my identities; they were always in competition it seems over which one was most important. In many ways and for many reasons, my identity as a black working-class person took dominance over everything else. Working in the LGBTQ Resources under the leadership of Bill McCoy has allowed for many thought-provoking conversations about all things LGBTQA related, and has helped me to reflect on my personal feelings about this queer identity and its relationship to all of the others I hold. In those conversations, Bill and Julia Bonnell told me about all the work that the GSA was doing to put their ear out to community to hear about the needs of its members and how they formed breakout support groups for them. Bill and I briefly discussed my thoughts on the needs of the queer community of color, and if there were any needs, and here we are: QPoC. I decided to lead this group this year for four reasons: 1, I wanted to know what it felt like to carry all of my identities proudly on campus, 2, I want the experience for other people whose identities are in constant competition to have a space to call their own; a space to exist, have a voice, and reconcile the differences between those identities and 3, I really believe in and admire the goals of the leadership of the Gay Straight Alliance this year and want to align myself with those goals, and 4, to bring some recognition to the fact that all marginalized identities are in the “fight” together.
2. What is your favorite thing about the work you do?
I love the community-building and supporting people.
3. How are you hoping to impact Bucknell?
In the years since my freshman year I have seen Bucknell grow in so many ways. My hope in general is to be able to leave something behind that is sustaining and contributes to the changes that Bucknell has made in positive directions in terms of its support, awareness, and acceptance of diversity. I want every generation of Bucknellians to experience a better Bucknell than the one before it. Also, I recognize the importance of a strong voice and a supportive community in one’s experience in college. If somehow I can give that to someone, my hope is that they feel inclined to do the same for someone else.
4. What other activities are you involved in on campus?
Last year, I served on the Black Student Union e-board as the secretary, and this year, we’ve created a new chair for community-building, which I am proud to say I will be serving on. I work as an Academic Ambassador under the Writing Center, which is a program that serves mainly to help first-years transition, by finding strategies to support and engage students, serving as resources, and fostering a peer-learning network. I, again, work in the LGBTQ Resources center, as well as the office of communications. I’m a Boston Posse Scholar. I also work for Performances Services.
5. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Good question. I have yet to figure out how I will measure this, but I hope to be successful in 10 years. That’s a really vague answer, but I don’t know yet where I want to be. In that 10 years, though, I hope I will have changed a life or two, taught, and made really good music/poetry.