Trans Student Wellness Task Force
The SJSU Trans Student Wellness Task Force aims to strengthen institutional support for transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive students.
The Task Force is charged with engaging in a collaborative, equity-minded, and student-centered process to assess campus climate, identify barriers to student well-being, and recommend actionable strategies that promote belonging, safety, wellness, and success for trans and gender-expansive students at SJSU.
The Task Force will:
- Review existing policies, practices, services, and systems impacting trans and gender-expansive students
- Identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities for improvement
- Recommend strategies related to wellness, mental health support, campus climate, education and training, identity affirmation, and equitable access to university resources
- Engage with campus stakeholders through dialogue, listening, and community input
- Develop recommendations that are actionable, sustainable, and aligned with the mission and values of San José State University
The Task Force, composed of faculty, staff and student representatives, will launch
their work in August 2026 with plans to provide findings and recommendations by June
2027.
For questions, please contact Heather French, Dean of Students and Co-Chair of the Task Force at deanofstudents@sjsu.edu.
Task Force Members:
Dr. Heather French, AVP and Dean of Students, Task Force Co-Chair
Iris Yip, Graduate Student Representative, Task Force Co-Chair
Dr. Nnenna Abaeze, Director of Health Services, Student Wellness Center
Rei Adriano, Undergraduate Student Representative
Dr. CJ Jones, Assistant Professor of Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, Department of Sociology & Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
Dr. Michele Kleeman, Interim Associate Director of Residential Life, University Housing Services
Dr. Lezlee Matthews, Director of Co-Curricular Learning, Educational Equity, and Assessment, Division of Student Affairs
Mira Mustafa, Training and Project Coordinator, Title IX and Equal Opportunity
Rosemary Pace, Undergraduate Student Representative
Bonnie Sugiyama, Director, PRIDE Center & Gender Equity Center
Dr. Daniel Rivers, Associate Professor of American Studies & Literature
Captain Jermaine Thomas, University Police Department
Danni Villalobos, Alum Representative, Class of 2016
Dr. Catherine Voss Plaxton, Associate Vice President, Health, Wellness, and Student Services
*** Undergraduate Student Representative [name withheld]
