Jelinda Montes

My Recent Work

Uncloseted Media •

Nancy Pelosi's LGBTQ Legacy: A Complete Look

On November 6, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced that she would be retiring after 38 years serving as the representative for the district that encompasses San Francisco. Since she was first elected in 1987, Pelosi has been one of the most consistent voices in support of LGBTQ rights, speaking out about the AIDS crisis and marching for gay rights during a period of heightened stigma and supporting gay marriage long before the majority of her party. In recent years, as increasing...
Uncloseted Media •

The Latest Attacks On Queer Rights Put Democracy In Peril

“Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go,” protestors chanted in the middle of Times Square, among a sea of signs that read “love reigns not kings,” “gays against faux-king Trump,” “we stand with … our trans family” and “the future is coming.”On Saturday, independent analysts estimated that the No Kings March drew between 5 and 8 million people, and organizers say over 7 million people attended 2,700 events across all 50 states. The event, which was organized to push against the rise of autho...
The Nation •

How High School Voters Can Impact the 2024 Election

In 2016, Jahnavi Rao realized her civic voice was underestimated, even ignored. So, as a high school student in Pennsylvania, she founded New Voters, a school club that aimed to register high school students to vote and amplify their voices in elections.

“I wanted to be heard and I wanted my friends to be heard,” Rao said. “And as New Voters grew, I realized that high school was just such an untapped group of people in these elections.” As the president of the organization, Rao, now 23, has hel...

Six Aspiring Educators Win Jack Kinnaman Scholarships | NEA

For more than two decades, NEA-Retired members have generously contributed to the Jack Kinnaman Memorial Scholarship Fund to support NEA Aspiring Educators (AE). A long-standing NEA member and leader, Kinnaman was a teacher for nearly 30 years. He retired in 1986 and later served as vice president of NEA-Retired. After Kinnaman died in 2002, NEA-Retired established a scholarship fund in his honor. Today, the scholarship supports six aspiring educators each year. Let’s meet the 2024 winners, who...

Staff Editorial: AU’s protest ban targets and silences student organizations — just as planned - The Eagle

The Eagle’s editorial board is comprised of its staff but does not represent every individual staffer’s views. Rather, it provides an insight into how The Eagle, as an editorially-independent institution, responds to issues on campus. 
American University’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine was placed on disciplinary probation for alleged violations of the indoor protest ban directive issued on Jan. 25. A Feb. 8 silent protest of around 30 demonstrators walking through buildings was e...

American University’s hiring of Huron Consulting further closes students and staff out of key decision making - The Eagle

The Eagle’s editorial board is comprised of its staff but does not represent every individual staffer’s views. Rather, it provides an insight into how The Eagle, as an editorially-independent institution, responds to issues on campus. 
The New School, the University of New Hampshire, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside have a few things in common: they faced serious budget shortfalls, hired Huron Consulting and subsequently laid off numerous s...

Staff Editorial: American University’s budget shortfall should be a wakeup call to prioritize current students - The Eagle

The Eagle’s editorial board is comprised of its staff but does not represent every individual staffer’s views. Rather, it provides an insight into how The Eagle, as an editorially-independent institution, responds to issues on campus. 
Colleges and universities across the country are facing a fiscal crisis — American University is no exception to the trend. 


American University announced a $1.3 million increase to the expected budget shortfall fo...

Staff Editorial: Restricting student speech on AU’s campus suppresses its ‘changemakers’ - The Eagle

The Eagle’s editorial board is comprised of its staff but does not represent every individual staffer’s views. Rather, it provides an insight into how The Eagle, as an editorially-independent institution, responds to issues on campus. 
See a photo gallery of indoor protests at AU over the years, including two from the Fall 2023 semester.



On Jan. 25, American University announced a ban on indoor protests, mandated student organizations welcome al...