• Chair, Associate Professor
• Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design
• Email: shannel@uri.edu

Identity: Ally

What motivates you to be visible on campus?

I was taught to treat others as I expect to be treated. It has been the guiding principle of my life.

One of my dearest college friends came out in 1983. Mutual friends did not treat him kindly and I never forgot how painful the experience was for him. I supported him then and will continue to support the LGBT community in any way I can. In addition, the fashion industry, the industry I’m associated with in my research and teaching, is an industry with an historically large gay community. Thanks to that community I have learned a lot about what it means to be an LGBT person in the United States.