Montclair State University

Campus Pride LGBTQ-Friendly Spotlight Series: 20th Anniversary Special Live

WATCH ONLINE: CampusPride.org/CampusSpotlight

Saturday, February 6, 2021: Watch Campus Pride Intern Ayla Azim (she/her) interview Ebony Jackson, M.A. (she/her), the Assistant Director of the Office for Social Justice & Diversity at Montclair State University. Ebony’s goal is to create a campus culture that affirms and includes all student identities. In this interview, Ebony shares some campus resources offered for LGBTQ students, such as those offered at the all-encompassing LGBTQ Center. These resources help students thrive emotionally, socially, and academically while in college. The LGBTQ center also hosts fun, inclusive events for members within the LGBTQ community as well as allies outside of it! Examples of these events include Coming Out Week, Trans Visibility Week, NYC and NJ Pride, and training workshops. She also details some safe spaces on campus, such as the LGBTQ living community Stonewall Suites. Some students even attend Montclair State solely to live in Stonewall! Ebony also describes some current school-wide LGBTQ policies such as the Name Policy, which requires a student’s preferred name to be used on all university documents (such as ID cards and email addresses). Other policies include the newly expanded Student Health Insurance Plan, which now covers trans healthcare procedures and medications. Lastly, Ebony shares some future goals for the Office for Social Justice & Diversity, which include creating a transgender transitioning guide. This guide would help transitioning students find trusted doctors, pay for treatment, and learn from others about resources local to campus. Finally, when asked to describe the Montclair State University experience in three words, Ebony replied, “life-changing, community, and fun.”

To learn more, visit https://campusprideindex.org/