Allen Tyrone Porterie hopes to cast more light on the theater stage. The issue in question is homophobia as it pertains to gay black men in the theater. “This research relates closely to me, and it is also a very important issue,” says Porterie in this Cornell Research story.
Porterie is pursuing a major in English and a minor in theater. “I really came to Cornell because I was interested in the English program,” he says. As his interest developed in the topic of homophobia, he found that professors and opportunities at Cornell channeled that intellectual curiosity further. “My English professor, Dagmawi Woubshet, was very instrumental in guiding me in the field,” says Porterie, citing reading lists, documentaries, and connections Woubshet provided. Porterie’s adviser from the Office of Academic Diversity Initiative (OADI), Tremayne Waller, also connected Porterie to other professors relevant to his field of interest.
Ryan Young/Cornell University
Campus Community Leadership Award winner Netra Shetty ’25 (center-left) poses with (from left) Marla Love, the Robert W. and Elizabeth C. Staley Dean of Students; Alec Brown, program manager of the Hunter R. Rawlings III Cornell Presidential Research Scholars Program; Monica Yant Kinney, interim vice president for university relations; Sarah Bartlett, volunteer and outreach manager at the Ithaca Free Clinic; and Taili Mugambee, lead program coordinator of Ultimate Reentry Opportunity, outside of Day Hall