Capstone Alliance and the UA LGBTQ Alumni Association are proud to announce that the 2021 Elliot Jackson Jones Memorial Scholarship has been awarded to Jesse Rentz.
The Elliot Jackson Jones Memorial Scholarship honors a university student who continuously finds new ways to positively support the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer student population at the University of Alabama. Recipients receive a one-time, non-renewable award of $1000.
Jesse embodies the values of this scholarship in every way. She is the president of Spectrum, the UA undergraduate student LGBTQ+ organization. In this role, she has worked to provide a supportive community environment for LGBTQIA+ students and their allies. Her leadership has helped foster understanding and education within the university and surrounding communities of LGBTQIA+ individuals through events and programming ranging from Pride Homecoming to State of the Queer Union to a new mentorship program that she introduced. Jesse also serves as UA Safe Zone’s Communications & Outreach Coordinator. Over the past year, she has assisted students in crisis, managed the office’s programming and campus relationships, and helped plan events like Lavender Graduation. She also moderates the Safe Zone support and dialogue Rainbow Connection, which has notably grown tremendously in attendance since her tenure in this role. Finally, Jesse is involved with (or personally initiated!) numerous other initiatives to advocate for and support our campus community. Examples include her work with UA’s housing administration to establish better practices for their roommate-matching system, volunteering for community events like Bal Masque and Greater Giving, both to fundraise for Five Horizons, and organizing a video and panel about LGBTQ+ campus history.
This scholarship honors Elliot Jackson Jones, founder of the first gay-straight alliance at the University of Alabama in January of 1983. Elliot showed tremendous leadership and courage during this time, initiating conversations and organizations around LGBTQ topics at great personal risk. He remained an activist throughout his life, working for a wide variety of causes, including early treatments for individuals with HIV/AIDS. He died in the summer of 1999 due to complications from these treatments, and this award was created to honor his service and memory. In 2012-13, Spectrum celebrated their 30th Anniversary, making Elliot’s legacy the longest continuous running gay-straight alliance among all Southeast colleges and universities.
