Jaye Cee Whitehead '00 Gives Back to Pacific
After an eight year absence, former Pacific student Jaye Cee Whitehead has returned to campus in an act that she calls "giving back" to Pacific. This time as a visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology.
"I came back because I wanted to give back to the University,"
Whitehead said. "Pacific had made such a difference in my life...I wanted to do something for a year that would give back to the Pacific community."
Whitehead, who teaches Social Problems, Gender and Sexuality, and Statistics, graduated from Pacific in 2000 and went on to receive both her Master of Arts and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 2003 and 2007, respectively. Her return also marks her first time back to campus since she left nearly a decade ago.
"I enjoyed [my time at Pacific] a great deal," she said. "It was a very transformative experience for me. I came from a working class rural background. It was a great transition, as I slowly moved into college life."
What Whitehead is most fond of, however, is the constant support that she received at Pacific from the faculty and, in her words "their support for newish students into receiving a liberal arts education."
Although a native of Wyoming before coming to Pacific, Whitehead admits that it is not her ususal response. "Whenever anybody ever asks me where I'm from I always tell them Portland because I consider Pacific to be my birthplace. It really made me into who I am today."
Whitehead is excited to see how much Pacific has grown since the last time she was on campus as a student. "It's nice to see that Pacific is really motivated and growing as a university while not losing its main focus to be there for the students," she said. "After being at a large university for the past seven years I've gotten to see how unique Pacific really is. Our policies and curriculum are really focused on the students. That's just not something that you see a lot - it's an amazing school in that way."
Although Whitehead is only staying for one year, she has big plans for Pacific. Whitehead plans on bringing speakers and scholars to campus to discuss their original research with the student body. Whitehead hopes to have two speakers this year. One for both the fall and spring semesters.
Outside of her work at Pacific, Whitehead is also working on her first book, titled "Untying the Knot" where she explores ideas about the institution of marriage.
Posted by Martha Calus-Mclain (calu0689@pacificu.edu) on Sep 21, 2007 at 9:46 AM
Edited by Brian Hess (hess4327@pacificu.edu) on Oct 1, 2007 at 9:49 PM
