8th Annual Stonewall Lecture Series
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The 1969 Stonewall Riots marked a critical turn in the fight for LGBTQ rights, serving as the impetus for the formation of several gay, lesbian and bisexual civil rights organizations. Today we honor the numerous individuals who have fought for LGBTQ equality and justice and the many contributions they have made to advance this modern day civil rights movement.
This year, RWU Law welcomes Jay L. Austin, the inaugural executive director of RISE (Reaffirming Individuals Supporting Education) Alliance LSAC (Law School Admissions Council), whose mission is to provide professional development to student-facing staff to support and enhance their influence in building and sustaining educational pathways that contributes to the diversity of the legal profession.
Previously, Jay served as the dean of enrollment and financial aid at Rutgers Law School, and he also held similar leadership positions at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy, Pennsylvania State University School of Law, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, and the former, University of California Hastings College of the Law. Outspoken about topics pertaining to the value of inclusivity, Austin has presented on a range of topics including the critical need to consider the narrative of the intersectionality of lived lives in admission policies and practices, and inclusion and diversity in institutional leadership.
As a first generation, yet fourth generation from Newark, New Jersey, Jay was born the middle child and the only daughter of an only daughter of working-class parents. Attended public schools in Newark and started college at one of the Seven Sisters—Douglass College, the women’s college of Rutgers University. Always the tomboy growing up and never quite feeling right in their skin, Jay came out as a proud butch lesbian during their first year of college and later fled to New York City. Although living and loving ( a lot) in NYC was nirvana, Jay knew something continued to be not quite right. While employed at UC Irvine Law, Jay began to transition socially and later medically into the male gender identity that has “always felt right”.
Jay is proud of his long service as an activist. In service to the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF) as board chair, in collaboration with executive leadership of both TLDEF and National Center for Trans Equality (NCTE) and NCTE board, Jay has led the largest merger of these two organizations now known as Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE). The unanimous selection for A4TE’s board chair, Jay will continue to lead the new organization whose mission is to improve the lives of trans and non-binary individuals through advocacy, policy and litigation.
In keeping with a life at the nexus of identities, Jay also serves as volume editor for the Antiracist Development Institute book series being published by the University of California Press, as a Certified Volunteer Advocate for the New Jersey Office of Long-Term Care Ombudsman Office, a member of the University of Pennsylvania Memory Care Center Advisory Board, a member of the University Pennsylvania Donor Transplant Center Advisory Team and member of the Seattle Children’s Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics Organoid Neuroethics Advisory Panel.
Special Accommodations
Persons who, because of a special need or condition, would like to request an accommodation for an event should contact the Office of the Dean - Programs & Initiatives, as soon as possible, but no later than 72 hours before the event, so that appropriate arrangements can be made. lawevents@rwu.edu