With a viral TikTok video of himself dressed as a Bridgerton character projected on the screen, chemistry professor and TikTok star Dr. Andre Isaacs addressed students and spoke about his accomplishments and struggles on Wednesday, Dec. 13 in the MLK room. Isaacs spoke at this month’s OUTstanding Speaker Series, a monthly event featuring different queer speakers.
Isaacs is a chemistry professor at The College of the Holy Cross; serves as a faculty mentor for many student clubs, including those for Black, Caribbean, and LGBTQ+ students; and has nearly 500,000 followers on TikTok. He talked about the importance of staying authentic to yourself as a scientist and how he strives to be a visible LGBTQ+ mentor for students since he didn’t have any growing up in Kingston, Jamaica.
Facilitating the event were juniors Jesse Givens and Melanie Ho. Givens said he had already been familiar with Isaacs from TikTok prior to the speaker event. Givens said Isaacs’ presentation left a powerful impression on himself and the audience.
“Dr. Isaacs is incredible,” Givens said. “He’s an inspiration for me as well as a lot of other people here.”
Givens said he was nervous being a panelist for the first time going into it, but overall it was a great experience.
“It was pretty nerve-wracking until the actual time of truth,” Givens said. “I felt like I had to prepare a lot more than I did. But [when] I got here, it actually benefited me to be a lot more natural.”
Freshman Quinn Silva, who has attended every OUTstanding Speaker event, said it’s been inspiring to hear all the past speakers answer the same questions in different ways, especially questions about their youth.
“It was really interesting to hear about his struggles [and how] he struggled with science as a high schooler,” Silva said.
When talking about his favorite queer icons, such as activist Bayard Rustin, mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing and computer scientist Lynn Conway, Isaacs discussed how hard the path to success was for them.
“What’s even more powerful about [these queer icons] is not their accomplishments, but their struggles,” Isaacs said. “It’s important to recognize that even successful queer scientists have life-changing experiences that they grew from, and that might be a part of your experience as a queer person in science or in life in general.”
Isaacs also emphasized how you don’t have to hide your identity as a queer scientist. He said he wants everyone to be who they are so they can do the best work possible.
“You can’t do great work if you’re leaving aspects of yourself at the lab door,” Isaacs said. “I encourage my students to bring their authentic selves.”
