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As the director of Syracuse University’s LGBT Resource Center, Jorge Castillo wants to be the mentor that he never had as a college student.

In his role, Castillo oversees a team of volunteer and professional staff members who create programming and offer resources for LGBTQ students at SU. Castillo hopes to use the center to improve the environment for LGBTQ students on campus and help them connect with one another.

“Growing up in Texas, as a Mexican American, brown, queer person, there weren’t a lot of people that I could see that came before me or looked like me,” he said. “And being able to be that person for our students is amazing.”

Castillo became director of the resource center ahead of the fall 2020 semester. Since first arriving at the resource center in July 2018, he has served as a mentor to several students.

Nicole Aramboles, a junior advertising major and student assistant at the LGBTQ resource center, said Castillo’s mentorship helped her get through her first two years of college. Castillo is her greatest supporter both in and outside the center, she said.

“It’s very rare to come across a boss who genuinely cares about you as a person,” Aramboles said.

Berri Wilmore, another student assistant at the center, said Castillo helped shape her college experience. As a queer student of color, it helps to have an older SU mentor member who has had similar experiences, she said.
Wilmore said that, as director, Castillo has fostered community between students and staff within the LGBT Resource Center.

“It’s already hard enough being a low-income student, a Black student, a queer student and a student of color,” she said. “And to have someone who’s older than you, who’s had those same or similar experiences and really gets it, is honestly amazing. And I’m just so grateful.”

Beyond his role working with students at SU, Castillo is also a student himself, a doctoral candidate at the University of Connecticut studying queer sexualities and globalization in Caribbean literature and film. He has also taught, researched and mentored in the LGBTQ studies and Latin American studies programs at the University of Connecticut and St. Lawrence University.

Before Castillo came to SU in July 2018, he served as the first assistant director for the LGBTQ+ Center at West Virginia University.

“(At WVU) I really appreciated the opportunity to mentor and work closely with students outside of the classroom,” Castillo said. “The programming and outreach that I was able to do, I started enjoying it more with the time spent.”
Castillo also oversaw the LGBTQ studies minor in WVU’s Center for Women’s and Gender Studies Program.

At WVU, Castillo was a thoughtful leader and was eager to work with a diverse group of students, said Cris Mayo, the former director of the LGBTQ+ Center at WVU.

“Jorge is an excellent academic and also a superb community organizer,” Mayo said. “He’s always willing to pitch in to help other people’s projects. That depth of knowledge and generosity just made him a great colleague.”

Charlotte Hoelke, former assistant director of the Women’s Resource Center at WVU, said she was amazed by how Castillo would always make time for all the students, staff, faculty and community members who would visit him unannounced. Castillo would always listen to their ideas for programs and resources at the center, she said.

Students, especially queer and transgender people of color, often sought mentorship and advice from Castillo, Hoelke said. Students talked about how much they missed him after he left for SU, she said.

It’s crucial for people of marginalized identities to feel included on a college campus, especially during difficult times like the coronavirus pandemic, Castillo said.

“Being remote and in a pandemic, community is very important,” he said. “And being able to find community is paramount, especially for communities that are already marginalized.”
One of the things that drew Castillo to SU was the university’s commitment to the LGBTQ community, he said.

Once the LGBT resource center moves into the newly renovated Schine Student Center ––which SU plans to open in January –– Castillo plans to work closely with the other student cultural centers that will share the space.

Castillo said his goal as director of the resource center is to promote the success of SU’s queer and trans students, and to ensure they have a campus community that celebrates and advocates for them. Most recently, the center has been hosting events for LGBT History Month.

“Ideally, we want folks to be able to advocate for themselves,” he said. “But at the same time, institutionally, we need to do our own part.”

Published on October 12, 2020 at 10:17 pm

Contact Abby: akweiss@syr.edu | @abbyweiss_21