Jacqueline Gayle planned to earn her Human Services degree at Onondaga Community College, then transfer to a four-year school. Her plans changed when she was the victim of domestic violence. "I felt my due process was violated. I was not allowed to attend court and read my victim impact statement. The experience changed my outlook on criminal justice. Even though you are the victim you are portrayed as somehow bringing this upon yourself. I wanted to learn more about how the system works. I know I can't be a police officer at my age, but I wanted to one day be able to do more and advocate for victims of domestic violence."
Her bad experience led her to OCC's Criminal Justice degree program which she began focusing on after completing her Human Services degree with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Her decision to pursue a Criminal Justice degree was reinforced in October when she spent a day on campus with alumna Karinda Shanes '98. Shanes is a member of this year's class of distinguished Alumni Faces honorees. Shanes spoke in Gayle's Criminal Justice class, they had lunch together, and Gayle introduced Shanes during that night's Alumni Faces ceremony. "Talking to her inspired me. She wanted to be a police officer but instead started her family and changed what she wanted to do." Today Shanes is the Regional Executive Director of Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection (HW-SC), a nationally-recognized youth development program which helps at-risk youths stay in school and graduate from high school with the skills and confidence necessary to enter college or the workforce.
When Gayle is away from the OCC campus she can usually be found working at PEACE, Inc. where she began volunteering during the pandemic, assisting with their home delivery program. She also volunteers at Catholic Charities.
The 50-year-old mother of three is a native of Jamaica who came to the United States in 1998. She worked for a company in downtown Syracuse for 18 years until her job was outsourced. She was left unemployed and with carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands due to years of typing on the job. Gayle chose to turn the negative into a positive. "I felt like it was a great opportunity for me to attend college. I like to take care of people so I decided to study something that would give me the chance to help others."
She started taking classes at OCC in the fall of 2019. The college's Office of Accessibility Resources gave her the assistance she needed to succeed despite having carpal tunnel syndrome. Gayle did so well in school she was inducted into honor society Phi Theta Kappa. In May she will complete work toward her Criminal Justice degree and walk the stage at commencement. From here, she believes the sky is limit. "I know I can be anything I set my mind to. I used to do things because I had to. Now I'm attending college so I can do something I'm passionate about."
