When Jordan Fridley ’24 attended honors day at Guilford College as a senior in high school, taking a sample class and eating in Founders Hall, they had no idea that a mere four years later they’d be presenting an honors thesis three times in one day, garnering the recognition of achieving the Hege Research Award for outstanding honors thesis just days before graduating with honors with a double major in History and Political Science.

Like many students at Guilford, Jordan looks back on their time spent at the College proud of the opportunities to learn and grow. “I felt drawn to Guilford College because I liked the teaching style and appreciated the time and dedication professors showed toward their students,” Jordan says. “I experienced that first-hand as a student, and will always cherish the relationships I built with many of my professors.

Doing the research and writing necessary for an honors thesis is a feat of its own, but Jordan’s choice for research stands out for the important role it will play in history. Titled “Aliens from Mars: The Experience of Transgender students in Triad Colleges and Universities, 1974-2017,” the work documents the experience of transgender students locally in a way that helps bring a voice to that community.

Jordan chose to do this work in part because they wanted to give a voice to others. “I’m not a very outspoken person, so public activism is really difficult for me,” Jordan says. “This research gave me the opportunity to speak out for what I believe in and make a difference in the community.”

Jordan spent long hours poring over primary documents in local archives. They used the Pride of the Community collection and oral history at UNCG, and found materials at Guilford College and Wake Forest University’s archives as well. Bringing all of these sources together and compiling the research in the thesis was a way for Jordan to preserve the history. “For me, historical preservation is a way to make a social difference,” Jordan says. “Collecting the history of marginalized communities ensures they don’t lose their history.”

The thesis research was not Jordan’s only experience with the archives. As a student they also worked in the Guilford archives, where they got the opportunity to learn about digital archives and Library of Congress organizational methods. One of the projects Jordan did through work was writing biographies to accompany each of the portraits in the Guilford College art collection.

That work helped Jordan see the importance of archives and history, which led to their plans to attend the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for a Masters in Library Science. After that, Jordan plans to continue to work in university libraries doing research and historical preservation. “During my time at Guilford, with my research and work in the archives, I was able to see how this work connects two of the things I’m passionate about, historical preservation and social activism,” Jordan says. “I am excited to be able to do work that helps give marginalized communities a voice.”