Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
The Queer Stories of 'Cuse podcast series was created by the LGBTQ Resource Center at Syracuse University (SU), in collaboration with The SENSES Project, to curate an oral history archive telling queer stories in an authentic light. This series features interviews of past and present SU students, staff, faculty and community members of the Greater Syracuse area who are passionate about queer issues and advocacy work.
Special thanks to:
The SENSES Project Program Coordinator, Nick Piato
Director of SU LGBTQ Resource Center, Jorge Castillo
Associate Director of SU Office of Supportive Services, Amy Horan Messersmith
Co-hosts: Bushra Naqi, Rio Flores & Sebastian Callahan
Sebastian Callahan 0:00
Hello, my name is Sebastian Callahan and I'm a junior at Syracuse University and I'm a research assistant at the LGBTQ Resource Center. And we're here working to establish our first queer oral history archive. And a few of our goals for this project include amplifying marginalized voices, that are often only wrongfully spoken for or over. I'm pleased to be here with Jay Jay Tifone. And I would like to extend all my gratitude to you for taking the time out of your schedule to participate in this interview. Please know that you may revoke your consent at any point during or after this interview. If you're feeling uncomfortable, or want to take a break, just let me know.
Sebastian Callahan 0:42
And your safety and well being is our utmost priority. And we want to make that clear. Thank you so much, again, for taking this time to share your story with us. We greatly appreciate it. And without further ado, let's dive into some of these questions. Sounds good, Sebastian. Thank you. Okay. So
Sebastian Callahan 1:00
welcome to the queer Syracuse oral history archive, and I am here with Jay Jay Tifone. And.
Sebastian Callahan 1:10
Okay, so I'll get started with question number one. So what are your pronouns if you'd like to share?
Jay Tifone 1:15
Sure. He/him/his.
Sebastian Callahan: 1:20
Okay, and can you tell me when and where you were born?
Jay Tifone 1:25
Sure. Born in Rochester, New York, uhh on a cold January day in 1981
Sebastian Callahan 1:37
Whoo, nice description. And in what places have you felt most accepted? And who were you around?
Jay Tifone 1:45
Wow, ah,
Jay Tifone 1:48
boy, I
Jay Tifone 1:52
think that probably started or you know, what one of the most notable times would have been in my undergrad days.
Jay Tifone 2:04
As I started to establish new friend group, that was a little bit more open minded, a little bit more accepting.
Jay Tifone 2:13
That kind of primed me and got me to a place where I felt comfortable in my own skin and my own identity, and felt finally able to confidently own my sexual orientation and then speak my sexual orientation into the world.
Jay Tifone 2:33
So I think probably my alma mater, my undergrad, Alma Mater, and then going to grad school. My, my time at Syracuse was incredibly formative.
Jay Tifone 2:46
And was, I think, the place in which
Jay Tifone 2:50
I, I truly embraced,
Jay Tifone 2:55
truly embrace all parts of me. And I did that largely through the cohort of other
Jay Tifone 3:02
education students with whom I went through my program.
Jay Tifone 3:08
I wound up living with several of them. We were part of a learning community in the higher education administration program. And there were other queer people in the program, I lived with another queer person.
Jay Tifone 3:26
And I found staff and instructors who,
Jay Tifone 3:33
who completely normalized by experience. And that was really affirming. And I think
Jay Tifone 3:41
just solidified, right, my own kind of comfort in in my skin, as I've said before,
Jay Tifone 3:50
and I think helped launch me into into the career I'm in into the relationship, the marriage, that I'm in.
Jay Tifone 4:01
Because because I had found that community and because I had found that that acceptance of, you know, of all parts of me.
Sebastian Callahan 4:25
Wow. Well, thank you for that. That's That sounds great. I'm glad your time Syracuse has been great. And yeah, where'd you do your undergrad? Sure. Just just south of Syracuse over in Ithaca, New York. Okay. And yeah, would you go to grad school at Syracuse for what was your degree in?
Jay Tifone 4:42
Yeah, I'm looking at higher post secondary education. It's a Master of Science and sitting on my wall right here. Sounds super fancy, right? We're a bunch of college administrators and that's what we went to school to learn how to do. And is that what you do right now you're I am operating out of Southern New Hampshire University students center right now where I head up our Office of Student involvement. Oh, wow. Yeah, that's Yeah, sounds great. I've heard great things about New Hampshire.
Jay Tifone 5:08
Yeah, it's a beautiful place. Most of the year, you might want to avoid us in January and February. But that's probably true of Syracuse too. So yeah, yeah, we're in the same boat.
Jay Tifone 5:19
So, can you tell me when you came to terms with your queerness? or queer identity? And do you feel comfortable sharing the ways you identify?
Jay Tifone 5:32
Yeah, sure. Sure. Sure, sure. Um, so what
Jay Tifone 5:36
I think it was probably around a year I studied abroad, started away. And I think started to kind of come into my own
Jay Tifone 5:50
self acceptance. And when I returned from my senior year, I started coming out to others. We had an annual tradition
Jay Tifone 6:03
at free speech rock, back at my alma mater, where our National Coming Out Day folks would take the mic and share their story. And I don't know, and maybe some kind of a trance, like walked up and outed myself to the campus community. And it was incredibly liberating. And friends did it with me, and it was lovely.
Jay Tifone 6:27
I identified then I still do as a gay man.
Jay Tifone 6:35
But I have also kind of adopted the the title of queer person as well.
Jay Tifone 6:43
And I don't think my gender is necessarily super fluid. But I do appreciate, at least in my interpretation of the term queer, right, that there is a little bit more flexibility in there. And there's a little bit more that perhaps is undefined and allows for some greater interpretation. And I just appreciate that it doesn't feel quite as limiting as is solely using the gay title.
Jay Tifone 7:13
So, So yeah, so that's, I don't know a little bit of my coming out and a little bit of how I identify. Yeah, that was perfect. I was literally incredibly answer. I was Yeah, I was following it. Exactly. Thank you so much. Yeah, that sounds great. Yeah, that experience sounds really interesting, too.
Sebastian Callahan 7:31
And so what was it like growing up as a member of the LGBT+community with your family and friends?
Jay Tifone 7:40
It was very
Jay Tifone 7:46
it was an experience in which
Jay Tifone 7:50
it was certainly not okay.
Jay Tifone 7:54
To to be out, certainly not in my community grew up in the suburb of Rochester, New York.
Jay Tifone 8:02
I got the messages from my family, I got the messages from my church, I got the messages from my school.
Jay Tifone 8:10
That to be anything but straight was to be deviant, to be
Jay Tifone 8:19 on a one way ticket out of heaven
Jay Tifone 8:23
to be ridiculed and shamed. Right, there was one guy in my high school who came out, I think, our sophomore year, and was bullied so badly that umm he, he withdrew from high school, wound up getting his GED later on, because it was just so intolerable, to be himself there.
Jay Tifone 8:47
So even when people weren't explicitly saying it's not okay to be gay, there were plenty of implicit messages to get that point across.
Jay Tifone 8:58
Yeah, yeah, I was talking with another current teacher administrator. And that reminds me of some things she encountered were in some of her early work, she was doing social work. And
Jay Tifone 9:11
she
Jay Tifone 9:13
said, she
Jay Tifone 9:18
she, she did something really interesting and threatened them with a $12 million lawsuit because a bunch of gay kids had been dropping out of her school or out of the same school at the same time because of bullying. And she actually wanted as soon as she started threatening the case, because another case had just been one and I think in Schenectady, she, they bent over backwards for her. So
Jay Tifone 9:43
different time. And
Jay Tifone 9:46
yeah, and I think about right that high school today. And I think about the fact that there are way more queer kids there, and not that they're there but that are out there and
Jay Tifone 10:00
can't exist in that space. And I know that's not true of all places in the country, certainly.
Jay Tifone 10:06
But I, I, there's a part of me that wishes right, I could rewind 20 something years and experience what that what that's like, right to be wholly yourself,
Jay Tifone 10:20
you know, in those formative teenage years?
Jay Tifone 10:23
Yeah, I can. No, I can totally see.
Sebastian Callhan: 10:27
And can you tell me about what your connection is to Syracuse and how you're affiliated to Syracuse. We can go back to that just for a second, if you'd like.
Jay Tifone 10:45
Absolutely. Sure. So, I did two years in a master's degree there.Between 2004 and 2006.
Jay Tifone 10:49
While I was there, one of my grad assistantships was actually in then, the LGBT resource center.
Jay Tifone 11:00
The “Q” was not part of the title back then.
Jay Tifone 11:04
And we were got I don't even know if the house is still out. Oh, gosh, it's been a while since I've been back. I don't know where the house is anymore, or where the center is anymore. But we were Oh, God was it Ostrom?
Sebastian Callahan 11:25
I've heard of it. And I think you're right, because now we moved to Schine.
Jay Tifone 11 :28
You're in Schine. Yeah. Oh, my God. Lucky you.
Sebastian Callahan 11:34
I know. We have a really nice room. Honestly, there's a kitchen, too. It's actually it's coming together. It's it's very Wow. But yeah, I can't. Sorry, sorry. Go. No, no, please. No, no, I was just saying, you know, it's, I think we just moved here last year. But it's definitely a really recent move.
Jay Tifone 11:52
Wow. Wow. It's a, it's amazing for you to be in such a central spot.
Jay Tifone 12:01
The resource center back in the day, right was kind of on the outskirts of campus, and really required a bit of a commitment to get to.
Jay Tifone 12:12
And maybe that was intentional, in part because it didn't necessarily out anybody who was visiting it because it wasn't in kind of as high profile or highly trafficked sort of place.
Jay Tifone 12:25
But I would argue probably I'll send some messages about like, its priority within the university structure.
Jay Tifone 12:35
And right, the
Jay Tifone 12:38
the willingness to elevate it and, and ensure that more people in the community knew that it was an asset.
Jay Tifone 12:48
Like that said, it was a cool house and two floors and a nice living room for hanging out. Cool porch on the front. Kitchen in the back. offices upstairs, like where the bedrooms used to be. Yeah, that's neat.
Sebastian Callahan 13:10
Yeah, I'm sure I'm kind of jealous. I never get to visit it. But yeah, I heard in its final years it was starting to become a lot to maintain is probably the only reason. That makes sense. Yeah. And yeah, those old houses in Syracuse.
Jay Tifone 13:20
Yes. And that was a tangent, Sebastian. Yeah. So can you tell me a little bit more about your role as a graduate assistant with the LGBT plus center? Yeah. So it was a little bit of like a little bit of this little bit of that.
Jay Tifone 13:39
We put out a weekly calendar of events at the university and the community was responsible for compiling that. It was a lot of programmatic support, the different student orgs that wanted to put events on making sure that they have the supplies to do it, we're helping to advertise things like that. There was some minimal advising that I got to do.
Jay Tifone 14:07
And, gosh, I think I did some research while I was there.
Jay Tifone 14:13
I'm going to date myself, right? Because it was
Jay Tifone 14:16
almost 20 years ago.
Jay Tifone 14:20
So if I'm not entirely crisp on everything I did back then it's just because it's been a little while.
Jay Tifone 14:28
More though, than the work that I did, I remember the people with whom I worked.
Jay Tifone 14:35
And the the amazing mentoring that I got, not just from the Resource Center staff, writer, director, associate director, program coordinator,
Jay Tifone 14:46
but also from like the staff and the faculty who would come by who would visit to also find community and fellowship in the space.
Jay Tifone 14:56
It was really, really special and
Jay Tifone 15:00
Just like a good place to network, a good place to feel like, yeah, like, you didn't have to worry at all about how others might perceive you because you were among folks who just understood and accepted. Right? Especially.
Sebastian Callahan 15:18
Exactly. Can you tell me about some of those people who are who you have in mind like professors, or, you know, people who worked for the center back in the day and yeah, so I wonder I wonder if you'll interview any of the former staff?
Sebastian Callahan: That's why I'm asking. Yeah, cause yeah, I might have already interviewed them, you know, maybe maybe. So Adrea Jaehnig was our director back in the day, she's, I think up in Maine now.
Jay Tifone 15:50
Ahmet Tanisha was our Associate Director, he's out in the Buffalo area. And now
Jay Tifone 15:58
we had Andrew Augeri, who was our program coordinator, office manager. I don't remember exactly what his title was, but kind of the one who sort of kept us all running in the same direction.
Jay Tifone 16:15
It was, like a little queer family,
Jay Tifone 16:20
with our mom and dad, you know, taking care of these 220 something little gay guys, it was, it was It was wild, but but they did a really nice job of kind of teaching us what it meant to be
Jay Tifone 16:37
higher ed professionals, what it meant to kind of wear our identity in the workplace. I remember when I was considering applying for the position, I had the conversation with Ahmet around
Jay Tifone 16:56
whether it was something that I should apply for, because I feared that doing the job, and then having to list it on my resume would help me to future employers. And would that be a mark against me? And I never forgot the guidance that I got
Jay Tifone 17:18
that essentially, if an employer saw that on my resume the Resource Center on my resume
Jay Tifone 17:26
and chose to disqualify me then I wouldn't want to work for that employer to begin with. So in some ways, right? It was an opportunity and an ability
Jay Tifone 17:40
to weed out those intolerant employers, and to ensure that I didn't end up in a space where I couldn't truly be myself.
Jay Tifone 17:50
So I wound up applying for and got that assistantship.
Jay Tifone 17:55
And still to this day, have a mention of the resource center on my resume.
Sebastian Callahan 18:00
Yeah, yeah, that's great. Yeah, because I put mine on my resume recently, and I wear mine very proudly. Now actually, I think it's my best job on my resume.
Jay Tifone 18:15
That's awesome. I'm so glad to hear that. So can you tell me what your LGBT plus or what your gay experience was like at Syracuse?
Jay Tifone 18:22
I wasn't sure if I was gonna talk about this. But sure.
Sebastian Callahan 18:29
Like Syracuse says, a whole university. Yes. The city. Yeah.
Jay Tifone 18:33
So when I think about hetero teenagers, especially in TV shows and movies, I think about
Jay Tifone 18:44
kids who go out, they go on dates, right? They,
Jay Tifone 18:50
they, they have the ability to kind of meet other people.
Jay Tifone 18:57
Right? They, they make out right? Like, they have all of these kind of stereotypical romantic and sexual kinds of, you know, first steps, right?
Jay Tifone 19:11
In sort of kind of coming into their identity. And I feel like
Jay Tifone 19:17
for a lot of queer people of my generation, now I sound like I'm about 80 years old, but for queer people of my generation, who didn't have the safety to come out in middle school in high school. I think we had a bit of an Arrested Development.
Jay Tifone 19:36
For me, right. I feel like my teenage years right, my coming into my identity really began at the end of my undergrad and certainly carried into my time at Syracuse, and so that was an opportunity for me, to meet people to date. Went out to Rain.
Jay Tifone 20:00
The bar that I understand has recently closed, which kind of hurts my heart a little bit.
Jay Tifone 20:08
But it was an opportunity, I think to, to not just kind of own the identity
Jay Tifone 20:16
of being a gay man, but also to, to live it. And to kind of understand what my sexual orientation was like, in
Jay Tifone 20:30
in real life, right in practice, if that makes sense, right, without I guess probably getting too, too, too, not safe for work
Jay Tifone 20:39
You can get as not safe for work as you want, as I'd love this interview to just be as honest as possible. You can tell me
Jay Tifone 21:07
Well, I think I just I worry about right. Someday my kid or my grandkid is going to watch this video and be like, really, to dad or grandpa did what when he was 25. All of that to say right, it was an opportunity.
Jay Tifone 21:15
Where I certainly I dated and felt comfortable for the first time being able to do that. And not for nothing. Also having like, other gay guys to be able to date like hadn't been an option really much before then.
Jay Tifone 21:33
And that was that was really liberating. It was really cool to kind of be around queer people who were friends but queer people who could also be lovers.
Sebastian Callahan 21:43
That's, that's nice to hear. Yeah, I heard back in probably the time you went to Syracuse there even used to be gay fraternity actually.
Jay Tifone 21:52
It doesn't exist anymore?
Sebastian Callahan 21:55
Nope, it actually doesn't exist. We were trying to find out more about it. So if you know anything more about it would be great to hear about it. Yeah, I bet you I can find you some information. Yeah, because
Jay Tifone 22:07
yeah, we were trying to hear more about it, but it closed. And honestly, it kind of closed in like a phantom like way.
Jay Tifone 22:17
Jorge, my boss, he's been asking me to keep an eye out for it. Because my years are the years 2001 to 2006. So I'm interviewing the students from our students, professors, administrators, anyone who was around in that time?
Jay Tifone 22:34
Yeah, let me I'll, I can rustle that up. I'm sure for you. Okay, yeah, we can we can move on. And, yeah, we can go to
Sebastian Callahan 22:44
I guess we'll go into, you know, more of a broader subject. And we'll go into how historical events you know, such as that have affected the gay community, you know, such as HIV/AIDS, legalizing gay marriage?
Sebastian Callahan 23:01
You know, all of the, you know, things that happen in our world that affects, you know, the gay community, how has it affected you? And yeah, have you been able to overcome that?
Jay Tifone 23:13
Well? Um, I'm actually I'm gonna spend your question in just a little bit. Right. So the 2015 Supreme Court ruling, right, allowing for same sex marriage throughout the country, right, led to my own marriage. We wound up getting married. Yeah. God, I think we got married a few months after,
Jay Tifone 23:39
we were officially allowed to thank you so much.
Jay Tifone 23:44
And it, you know, paved the way for us to ensure that our son
Jay Tifone 23:55
was was jointly ours. Right, and that any decisions that we were making, right, we could make
Jay Tifone 24:06
on behalf of the other and for the little one. So all of that was super positive. Right. So in terms of something to overcome, it, in fact, was right. It was something that made an allowance for right, pretty significant change in our worlds.
Jay Tifone 24:26
I think, right. My concern right now, and I hope that this is a very dated concern is just perhaps what what rights to same sex marriage we have if the Supreme Court's rulings on privacy
Jay Tifone 24:46
continue to erode. So my hope is that on the federal level, legislation will come around that codifies same sex marriage, as well as anti LGBT discrimination.
Jay Tifone 25:05
But as of right now, right? And of August in 22, that's not quite the case. So that is what keeps me up at night and has me worried about
Jay Tifone 25:18
our future as a family.
Sebastian Callahan 25:22
Yeah, I know the times they change so fast.
Jay Tifone 25:27
They do.
Sebastian Callahan 25:33
Yeah. And so how? And can you tell me a bit about how else you've made an impact on for the LGBT community for social justice or anything else you can, that comes to mind that you're proud of that you can say, like, I did that. And I'm very proud. And I'm sure there's so much that, you know, there's probably so much coming to your mind. It's hard to pick one, but oh, God, I wish I wish I had a lot that came to mind spash. And
Jay Tifone 26:03
I, I don't know, honestly, what kind of impact I've had. And I would be surprised if it's significant.
Jay Tifone 26:12
I have tried my damnedest to
Jay Tifone 26:16
live the sort of life that
Jay Tifone 26:22
I hope
Jay Tifone 26:26
that I hope shows, younger queer people, right? That
Jay Tifone 26:34
that there isn't a single way in which you can or should be.
Jay Tifone 26:40
And that if you're looking for, right, like,
Jay Tifone 26:47
a more traditional way of operating, right, like
Jay Tifone 26:53
a spouse, and, you know, a child, their children, right, own a home. You know, like, that's not off limits to you. And I think throughout my childhood, teenage years, all of that, I didn't think that that was ever going to be a thing for me.
Jay Tifone 27:13
And so I think I've really embraced the opportunity to make all of that a reality.
Jay Tifone 27:22
And I think just try my best to kind of model for others. Anybody who's watching any way that look like this is a thing, right?
Jay Tifone 27:32
If you're in my office, right, like, anybody who steps in, like, there's a picture right of us, right? There's pictures of the family kind of scattered around here. Right? And no, that's, that's not my brother. That's my husband. Right.
Jay Tifone 27:52
And I think
Jay Tifone 27:55
I think that
Jay Tifone 27:59
were I a student who were visiting me, right, especially 20 years ago, right? That sort of example, I think, would have been really affirming or at least assuring that
Jay Tifone 28:16
that this kind of life isn't
Jay Tifone 28:18
out of reach.
Jay Tifone 28:22
So whether that's impacted any of the students with whom I've worked the hundreds and hundreds of students with whom I've worked over the years, I can't say, right, nobody's written me a letter and said, hey, thanks. Thanks for having that picture in your office showing me a you know, you and your kid and your husband.
Jay Tifone 28:41
But I do it anyway, right? Because it's nice to have. And then the hope that maybe, right?
Jay Tifone 28:50
It normalizes the experience a little bit for another closeted, perhaps queer kid.
Jay Tifone 28:56
Who isn't sure maybe what the path forward looks like.
Sebastian Callahan 28:58
I'm sure it does. And I can tell you, you've had an impact on me just from hearing this interview. And you'll definitely impact others from, you know, the other people who will hear this interview, and especially, you know, hearing your experience about coming out on the hill that was just really interesting. And it's nice to hear those powerful things, and especially how you're able to, you know, finally, like, especially like, I've interviewed people from, you know, a time before you too, and they were in a time where it was the 70s and, you know, they couldn't have photos of their family on there. You know, it was, and it's, it's good to hear that, you know, we're moving in the right direction. Albeit slowly. But yeah, definitely trying to move in that right direction. That's Yes, completely spatially completely.
Sebastian Callahan 29:48
So I guess we'll start wrapping up on most actually, but we'll go into more. I have a few more questions left, but can you just tell me about how I'm um Let me I'm gonna move ahead to a different question.
Jay Tifone 30:00
go for it.
Sebastian Callahan 30:02
So,What's the importance? Do you have queer people having a home a chosen family or et cetera?
Jay Tifone 30:13
I mean,
Jay Tifone 30:17
God,
Jay Tifone 30:19
I think
Jay Tifone 30:23
I think for so many of us, certainly of my generation, right, acceptance among our bio families wasn't always a given.
Jay Tifone 30:34
It certainly wasn't the case for me.
Jay Tifone 30:38
And so the found family really,
Jay Tifone 30:42
in my own coming out process was essential, right, to ensure that I had a foundation I had people who have my back and I knew I had some unconditional love. In my world, I think the center, I think, found families, right, are so important, because they do provide that base from which, you know, queer people, and specifically queer people from Syracuse, right, have
Jay Tifone 31:15
have that support.
Jay Tifone 31:19
Especially when it may be lacking,
Jay Tifone 31:24
you know, at home with family, with bio family.
Jay Tifone 31:32
I also think there's just something really special about bound families, right? Because they're, they're our choice, right?
Jay Tifone 31:45
When it comes to sexual orientation when it comes to gender identity, right?
Jay Tifone 31:52
That's something that's just kind of baked in, right? It's who we are. Right? And
Jay Tifone 31:59
that's, that's how we are, right?
Jay Tifone 32:03
And as a kid, right, like, it's regularly told, right? Like, it's a choice, right? You can choose to be gay, you can choose not to be gay. No.
Jay Tifone 32:13
Like, I can choose right, who I continue to associate with. Right? And if you family are toxic in my world, right? I can choose to say no to you. And I can choose this friend group, these people who love me and who unconditionally support me, right. And I can choose to embrace them because they choose to embrace me. That's really special. Right? And I don't know that straight people fully appreciate
Jay Tifone 32:47
or get why. Right. Why our found community is so important. And so integral, I think, to our
Jay Tifone 32:59
to our identity.
Sebastian Callahan 33:06
Yeah. That's super interesting to hear, actually.
Yeah, I mean, I see that a lot at Syracuse especially. And it's good to hear that the center helps, like, facilitate that. And especially, I see that a lot actually around me as well. And, honestly, it definitely is like a blossoming gay community here in Syracuse that you see a lot more prevalently.
Sebastian Callahan 33:29
So, we'll go on to so what are some things that bring you joy?
Jay Tifone 33:36
Oh, boy.
Jay Tifone 33:38
I mean, my family, of course. My dog is great.
Jay Tifone 33:44
You know, winds at work are always nice. I
Jay Tifone 33:50
love live theater. I love live concerts. Oh.
Jay Tifone 33:58
I think
Jay Tifone 34:01
traveling is great.
Jay Tifone 34:04
Spending time with friends.
Jay Tifone 34:08
Both queer and non queer.
Jay Tifone 34:12
Really, can be very restorative.
Jay Tifone 34:16
And definitely appreciate those experiences.
Jay Tifone 34:20
I'm also an introvert so sometimes just a little bit of alone time and quiet time.
Jay Tifone 34:28
can be really lovely as well.
Sebastian Callahan 34:31
Yeah, I'm surprised you're an introvert because you're such a well spoken person. I consider myself an introvert too.
Jay Tifone 34:40
I like to say that I'm an introvert who plays an extrovert at work. So you know, we can we can turn it on. We can make it work.
Jay Tifone 34:52
But at the end of the day, like I typically need to go and recharge my batteries a little bit.
Sebastian Callahan 34:56 Yeah, exactly. With a good book or something.
Jay Tifone 35:00
Think something like that.
Sebastian Callahan 35:05
Yeah. And so who are you grateful for? And are there any words you'd like to share with anyone and by grateful for someone I mean, also like thinking about people who were good role models to you, obviously your children and your husband and and anyone else you want to reference.
Jay Tifone 35:47
I mean, I probably talked about a few people already, but because I'm going to Syracuse way of mind, let me say thank you to, to Greg victory, who was part of the Career team at Syracuse back during my tenure, he since moved on to Duke
and several of us called Greg, mom, while we were there.
Jay Tifone 35:53
She sorry he, thank you, I’m using the wrong pronouns here.
Jay Tifone 35:58
He did a fantastic job of taking us in, as soon as we arrived, bring us into the community, introducing us to people
Jay Tifone 36:11
and checking on us to ensure that we had what we needed.
Jay Tifone 36:16
And that we always had, like an older, wiser gay person watching out
Jay Tifone 36:24
at one point.
Jay Tifone 36:28
I remember making a comment that
Jay Tifone 36:33
I would never date anybody who was as old as 30, only to realize that that mom had I think just turned 30 only, you know, I think five years older than me at the time, maybe six.
Jay Tifone 36:49
But that age difference at that time, right just meant the world because she was so much older, so much wiser, so much smarter, and so much more nurturing of all of us little baby gays who had just turned up for grad school.
Jay Tifone 37:08
An amazing, amazing mentor, role model, hero.
Jay Tifone 37:15
And Fantastic, fantastic ally to have. So I'm incredibly appreciative of Greg and all the work that mom did for for all of us.
Sebastian Callahan 37:27
That's good to hear. Honestly. Yeah. I've never heard their name before. So I'm interested. I want to go and interview them now.
Jay Tifone : 37:35
Yeah, yeah, I can send you some contact info.
Sebastian Callahan 37:40
Oh, my gosh, that'd be great. Yeah, sure. Thank you so much. So is there anything else you'd like to add about your overall experience as a queer person or you know, not regarding that, but in Syracuse?
Jay Tifone 37:54
And not off top I have right now. Sebastian, I I just want to say thanks. Because this has been a lot of fun to reminisce. And you've been a great listener. I really appreciate that.
Sebastian Callhan
Oh, well, thank you so much. You've been the best speaker. You know, it's it's amazing to hear. And, I mean, that was my final question. So. Okay, I guess I'll stop the interview recording here. (CUT)
Transcribed by https://otter.ai