Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli, Class of 2005, has found Kenyon to be a great place for an aspiring activist. His work with sexuality and gender issues has helped to make Kenyon a welcoming place for students of all sexual orientations.

In 2003, Schlesinger-Guidelli took the lead in establishing the Unity House, a resource center for Kenyon's gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (GLBT) community. He then became the house's co-manager. "The Unity House is, first and foremost, a safe space," Schlesinger-Guidelli explains. "It serves as a crossroads for members of the community to meet and engage each other socially." It also offers programming to increase understanding and tolerance of GLBT students. "In the past, the gay community at Kenyon has been fairly divided," says Schlesinger-Guidelli. Now, with the Unity House in place, "the community is closer than it's been in my time here."

A political science major, Schlesinger-Guidelli is no stranger to activism. He was encouraged during his freshman year to attend meetings with Allied Sexual Orientations (ALSO), a campus GLBT group. At the time, "I was just coming out," he explains. Soon, he was elected as the group's secretary, and then he became co-president. "The second semester of freshman year, I was running ALSO!" he says.

In addition to his work with the college GLBT community, Schlesinger-Guidelli remains active with other gender-issues groups. He is a sexual misconduct advisor, a role that sees him counseling victims of assault. He also serves on the planning board of the College's Crozier Center for Women, and he works with a group that educates first-year students to make safe lifestyle choices.

As he begins to think about life beyond Kenyon, Schlesinger-Guidelli is uncertain which path he will take. "My whole life I've been focused on going into politics," he says, noting that he is considering law school. However, he might take a completely different path by following his family into the kitchen.

Several of Schlesinger-Guidelli's family members and close family friends-whom he collectively refers to as his "aunts and uncles"-are involved with the restaurant business. Some own restaurants, while another is the executive editor of a restaurant trade magazine. "I have an enormous love for the restaurant business," he says. "I'm trying to determine which of my passions is going to win out in the long run."