The Score: It's getting 'Better' thanks to NYU

The Score: It's getting 'Better' thanks to NYU

Courtesy MTV

Dan Savage (l.) and his partner Terry Miller started the 'It Gets Better' campaign to give hope to gays, lesbians and transgender kids who face bullying.

Jonathan (Jay) Hayes is a three-year captain of the mens volleyball team at NYU who will graduate next month with a degree in marketing and international business. His diploma wont make mention of his cou rage, or his strength of character, and thats a shame, because in a 2 minute, 50-second video that was released last week, Jay Hayes showed plenty of both, doing himself and his school proud.

Its cool, its liberating, and its another step in my journey, said Hayes, 21, of Naperville, Ill. Hopefully it helps other people in their journey.

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The video is part of the It Gets Better campaign, a powerful and growing anti-bullying initiative that seeks to offer hope and comfort to teenagers who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. It Gets Better was launched some 19 months ago by two men named Dan Savage and Terry Miller, in the wake of a series of teen suicides by young people who were variously targeted because of their sexual identity, among them Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers freshman who jumped off the George Washington Bridge.

President Obama has recorded a n It Gets Better message, and so has a Jonas Brother (Joe). Scores of others, including major league teams (Giants, Cubs and Mariners) and colleges, have also joined the movement. Nobody has produced a message quite like the one posted by NYU, in which Hayes, an all-conference libero on a highly-ranked team (NYU aims to secure a place in the the first-ever NCAA Div. III volleyball tournament this weekend), introduces himself and tells the world he is gay. Then, with his teammates standing behind him, Jay Hayes said, I know I can achieve anything I set my mind on doing, and I can do that while being out and being proud of who I am.

Peter Krasny, an assistant AD at NYU, worked closely with Hayes on the video, along with an array of other NYU athletes and coaches. One of them is Jolie Ward, the womens volleyball coach who talks openly about her daughter, her partner and being gay. Another is diving coach, Scott Donie, 1992 Olympic silver medalist, who has spent years de aling with his perceived sexuality because of his sport of choice.

Hayes, who came out to family and friends during his sophomore year, began thinking of doing an It Gets Better video after reading about it on www.outsports.com, a website for gays in athletics. His initial thought was to do something individually, but when he sat in front of his computer camera, it felt awkward, forced.
The more I thought about it, the more I thought the message would be way more powerful and impactful if we had a much more visible support sytem, Hayes said. He broached the idea of filming an athletic-department-wide message with Chris Bledsoe, NYUs AD, who was all for it.

Said Krasny, To me, (the video) speaks to Jays strength as a person and the comfort level he has found in his personal life and his student life. To be able to take that risk speaks volumes about his character and how we are doing in this department and this university.

NYUs commencement exerc ises will be held May 16, at Yankee Stadium. Jay Hayes will depart Washington Square with a diploma and a legacy that will be hard to match.

I had the opportunity to help get our message across, and Im glad I did, he said.