Meet Campus Celebrity Jennie Sekanics, a fierce feminist making big changes in the TCNJ community through kindness and activism. Jennie earns the Campus Celebrity title due to her leadership of and involvement in a wide range of organizations and her amazing ability to balance two jobs, two majors and two presidency positions.
Ms. Sekanics is a senior, double majoring in English and Women and Gender Studies, with a minor in Italian studies. She originally entered TCNJ as an English major and WGS minor but the mere five classes were not enough for Jennie. Her love for social justice began in high school, speaking at various City Council and Board of Education meetings and strengthened when she joined the Women In Learning and Leadership (WILL) program, a prestigious leadership organization for female leaders and scholars. Feminism is a huge passion for Jennie and she fulfills that passion by serving as the Executive Chair of WILL, President of the Women’s Center, Vice President of Triota WGS Honor Society and a SAVE Peer Educator for Anti-Violence Initiatives and a Director of the Vagina Monologues. Jennie has also written for The Signal about politics with a gender lens and gender in pop culture for The Elephant in the Room.
“Gender and sexuality are two entities I continuously explore…the way in which we have been socialized to act certain ways because of parts of our identities amazes me. I want to study them, challenge them.”
Jennie enjoys using social media to raise awareness about not only feminism but mental health and suicide prevention. Last year, she helped run the Selfies for Self-Care Facebook page and created the TCNJ Gratitude Journal on Facebook to encourage students to reflect on moments during their day that made living worth it and generated positivity. She works with professional representatives from CAPS and student affairs faculty on the Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention Task Force. Serving as a student liaison, she offers a student’s perspective on ways in which awareness can be raised about mental health and self-care on TCNJ’s campus.
“It’s an awesome experience because I have a behind the scenes perspective of the efforts TCNJ faculty make to make TCNJ a safer, healthier environment. I am honored to be on the task force and provide my opinion.”
While serving on the task force and leading two different organizations, Jennie is currently employed as a Community Advisor in Decker Hall. In her previous years as a Wolfe CA, Jennie planned TCNJ’s Be the Change Clothing Exchange, an on-campus thrift shop and won the highly-prestigious award, Community Advisor of the Year for the 2014-2015 academic year. Jennie won this award primarily for her resiliency after losing a resident last semester to suicide.
This year, Jennie expanded her employment by taking a position at TCNJ through the College Enhancement Intern program. She is the Social Media Strategist of TCNJ’s main social media accounts and enjoys learning how to sharpen her media skills and analyze social media activity.
“I hope to use social media activism in the future while working for a non-profit focusing on women and education.”
Jennie is a stellar student, leader and activist and you can meet this TCNJ star at TCNJ’s annual A March to End Rape Culture at 7pm in the Business Building Lounge this Tuesday, Sept. 15th!