[24531] in APO-L
[APO-L] Another Famous Alum
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Kenneth Hunter)
Wed Dec 1 14:17:10 2004
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 2004 14:13:48 -0500
Reply-To: Kenneth Hunter <kwhunter@gmail.com>
From: Kenneth Hunter <kwhunter@gmail.com>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
I received this link today in an alert message. Apparently, one of
the 21st Century "Fab Five" is a Brother.
http://www.eveningsun.com/Stories/0,1413,140~9956~2569698,00.html
TV star returns to Gettysburg College
By CHRISTINA KRISTOFIC
Evening Sun Reporter
Wednesday, December 01, 2004 -
Carson Kressley flew by the seat of his side-zip pants Tuesday night
as he talked about life at Gettysburg College and life after it.
He admitted early in the evening that he didn't have a speech prepared
for his audience of more than 500 students, faculty and area
residents.
"I thought as long as I'm going back to Gettysburg, I might as well do
what I always did and wait until the last minute," he joked.
One of the college's most famous alumni, the "Queer Eye for the
Straight Guy" fashion guru graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta
Kappa in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in management with a
concentration in finance.
Kressley worked for the U.S. Equestrian Federation and Polo Ralph
Lauren before he landed his role on "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" a
few years ago.
The Bravo network reality TV show features five gay men - "The Fab
Five" - each with his own specialty in fashion, culinary arts, beauty
techniques, interior design or culture, who help improve the lifestyle
of a style-challenged straight man.
"Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" launched Kressley into the national
spotlight in 2003.
Since then, he has received honors from "Out" magazine, "Rolling
Stone" and Comedy Central. He also recently won an Emmy Award for his
role on the show.
College president Katherine Will joked that Kressley played a big role
in her decision to become president of Gettysburg College.
She said when she saw how witty and clever Kressley was, and learned
he was a Gettysburg alumnus, she knew the college had to be a pretty
special place.
Will had the honor of presenting Kressley with the Young Alumni
Achievement Award for Career Development Tuesday night.
"It looks just like my diploma," Kressley exclaimed. "I'm going to
hang this in my office. Wait. I don't have an office."
He joked about getting an honorary doctorate. But, he said, he didn't
want just an ordinary doctorate. He said he wanted something special -
something he could only get from Gettysburg - "something like
Indonesian Basketweaving of Women in the 1930s."
As he stood on the stage in the ballroom of the College Union
Building, Kressley recalled the first time he sat in the ballroom.
"I had my very first convocation here," he said. "At my freshman
convocation, Brian McNaught spoke, the guy who wrote the book 'On
Being Gay.'"
He knew at that convocation that Gettysburg would be a good fit for him.
"I lived in Apple Hall, which afforded an unlimited view of women's
field hockey. I think that's what made me gay," Kressley joked. "Then
lacrosse season would roll around, and I'm like, yeah, I'm definitely
gay."
Kressley said he's known he was gay since he was a young boy in a navy
and gray plaid Pierre Cardin suit.
But it didn't make it difficult to grow up in conservative,
blue-collar Allentown.
"When you're a little kid, it's not that big of a deal," he said. "It
doesn't really matter until eighth grade."
It wasn't much of a problem after eighth grade at Northwestern Lehigh
High School or Gettysburg College, he said.
At Gettysburg College, he was an active member of the management club,
service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega and The Owl and Nightingale
Players.
"When I was here, we didn't have the Gay and Straight Alliance. We
just had theater," he quipped.
Kressley was one of the founding members of the college equestrian team.
After college, Kressley worked as a division director for the U.S.
Equestrian Federation, which he said is like "the NBA of horse
sports."
He realized four years into his career that "man could not live on
non-profit wages alone" and went to work in retail advertising and
creative development for Polo Ralph Lauren for seven years.
"I didn't know what I wanted to do," he told his audience. "The great
thing about liberal arts, the great thing about Gettysburg, is that
you can do anything. When I got out of school, I did things I really
liked. Things that were challenging. Things that paid my rent."
One thing led to another, and he found himself lying to his boss at
Ralph Lauren about dentist appointments and auditioning for "Queer Eye
for the Straight Guy."
He said he got the part of the fashion savant on the show and made the
pilot episode three years ago. He wasn't sure if anything was going to
come of it, but six months later the producers called and asked if he
was ready to quit his job at Ralph Lauren.
"And that's how I became a gay reality celebutante," he said.
Kressley joked that his favorite part of doing the show is "shopping
with other people's credit cards."
He said he enjoys helping men and seeing them succeed.
But the most important part of his job, he said, is that he can be a
role model for gay youth.
He's actively involved with Pride of the Greater Lehigh Valley, an
organization dedicated to raising community awareness and
understanding through positive visibility of gay, lesbian and bisexual
individuals.
Pride of the Greater Lehigh Valley recently offered a scholarship for
gay youth - the first one of its kind in the Lehigh Valley.
Kressley is also actively involved with the Trevor Project, a group
dedicated to the prevention of teen suicide.
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among teens, and gay and
lesbian teens are three times more likely to commit suicide, he said.
He plans to speak for the Trevor Project in Los Angeles, Calif., this
weekend about preventing teen suicide and promoting acceptance among
gay and questioning teenagers.
Kressley speaks all over the country and encourages people to be more
understanding and accepting of themselves and others.
At Gettysburg College, he also encouraged the students to let their
hearts guide their lives.
"Listen to what your heart is telling you," he said. "It's probably
not telling you the wrong thing, unless it's telling you to buy Uggs."
In L, F, and S,
Kenneth Hunter, Jr.
Manassas, Virginia, USA
kwhunter@gmail.com
