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Many know Diane Lyden Murphy as the Dean of Falk College, a position she has held since 2005. But her journey and impact at Syracuse extend well beyond her deanship. In many ways, her leadership in Falk College was shaped by the people and experiences in Diane’s life before Falk College even existed.

As we approach the end of August 2023 and the conclusion of her deanship, we sat down with Diane to reflect on her personal journey to academia; her calling to social policy, social justice, and feminist scholarship; and her remarkable 45 years of service at Syracuse University. Here is her story:

Moving In a Crowd

“Do you want to be a jumping hyena? Or do you want to play ball?” One of the sisters who taught at Our Lady of the Valley, a Catholic high school in Orange, New Jersey, was encouraging a young Diane Lyden to join the basketball team. It was the early 1960s, a time when women’s competitive sports were still new and most young women were cheerleaders. “The nuns were my first feminist teachers,” she said. “I didn’t know it then.”
Thanks to the nuns’ encouragement, Diane joined the women’s team, which won several state championships in northern New Jersey. “I wasn’t top of the team. But my very best friend Bernie was. She was a top shooter in Jersey. Boys would get scholarships every year. But there were no scholarships for Bernie, so she did not go to college.”

Growing up in North Jersey, there were Irish, Italian, and Polish neighborhoods. At home, she was part of a multi-generational household of first-generation Irish Catholics. Diane was the eldest of 10 children—four girls and six boys. The house was huge, and it needed to be—it was home to her siblings, grandparents, and aunt and uncle “I’ve always lived in a gang, that’s how I moved around and knew life. There were always little kids around. There was always lots of activity. We went to school, and church, and athletics. You had to do well in your own role.”

In school and at home, Diane found a mix of “old world” culture mixed with the social justice values of her Jesuit education and home upbringing. “The whole ethos and modeling and life I had was always built around issues of social justice and giving back and philanthropy, mutual aid, and leadership in that area. The concept that what you’re given must be returned,” she said.

The family went to mass every day, and they all worked by the time they were 16. “I either volunteered, or by 16 I had a job.” In high school, Diane was a hospital volunteer, often called a “candy striper.” Even there, Diane was marching to her own drum. “I kept getting into trouble because I kept on serving the people. You’re supposed to just give them their food and leave—but I kept on feeding the old people,” she said, grinning. “The nurses finally said to me, ‘You’re only supposed to leave the trays, you’re not doing the right job, you’re fired,’” she laughed. “I had a little rebel streak. If anybody said don’t, I did.”

But as traditional and new ideas of the world in the 1960s found themselves at odds, Diane found a way to preserve the best of both and still push for progress. Perhaps her biggest act of individual thinking was her decision to go to college. Diane had a knack for academia; she took three years of math, and even won a state award for her four years of Latin language education.

Although she was at a college prep school, her family did not understand why she wanted to go to college. No one in her family had earned a bachelor’s degree, and the women didn’t receive any college education. Money for higher education was reserved for the men in the family. Her father, an Irish biological orphan raised by an adoptive Polish family, had an associate degree and a stable white-collar job in traffic control. Just as Diane was finishing high school, her father was being transferred to Upstate New York. Since her family was relocating to Syracuse, Diane enrolled at Syracuse University.

A Born Social Worker

Diane became part of the progressive action movement in the community and on campus. “It was a social activist time. It completely meshed with my own mission and values. So, I became an activist scholar.” She majored in sociology at the Maxwell School and was part of the honors program. At the time, social work was not an undergraduate major.

“My parents didn’t help me financially because they couldn’t. I always worked. I worked at the bookstore, lifeguarding, water safety. I worked all through college. I did my schoolwork at home at night.” As an undergraduate student, Diane lived with her family in a big farmhouse. She shared a room with her two sisters. Second in birth order was Diane’s sister, who was following a more traditional path. And while her grandmother gave her sister a dowry, Diane only wanted books. “Grandma would say, ‘Any money I give you will not go into a book!’ It was so far from her experience as a farm child in the Catskills.”

As a senior, she received her honors degree in Hendricks Chapel. “My parents came for the first time to campus, and my father said, ‘What are you doing?’ Meaning, ‘What is this all about?’ My family always loved me and supported me, but, having never experienced it themselves, did not understand higher education.” Although her family did not understand Diane’s chosen path, she credits them with setting her on it. “My inclination to social justice comes out of my early preparation as a child. My parents showed the way,” she said. “All my brothers and sisters do this work. We’re all involved in human services: Doctors, healthcare workers, lawyers, social workers, teachers, and on and on it goes.”

While at Syracuse, Diane met Fred Murphy, a graduate student in economics at the Maxwell School, five years her senior. “He was also an activist scholar. He was employed by the City of Syracuse doing tenant organizing.” One week after her graduation in 1967, Diane and Fred were married. In January 1969, their twin daughters were born.

No Stopping Her

Diane was working at Elmcrest Children Center with a team of six women, each of whom had their Master of Social Work. “You’re a born social worker,” her supervisor told Diane. After a year at Elmcrest, she made her way back to Syracuse to earn her own M.S.W.

Diane arrived at the admissions office with her twins and was greeted with a comment she’d never forget: “‘What are you doing with those babies sitting in my office for admissions?’ he said to me. ‘I’m applying to graduate school.’ ‘And what makes you think that’s reasonable, young lady?’ I said, ‘Because women do it all.’ I was so upset, it got me charged up. I said to myself, ‘I’m really going to do this!’”

She started courses in social work in the fall of 1969. “By this time there was no stopping me. I really loved my studies in social work.” At the time, her twins were not yet 1 year old. There were no childcare services on campus for students with children, and since Fred was working full time, they went to class with Diane. “I took them to school. I brought them to class,” she said. “Still to this day my friends from graduate school talk to me about holding them on their lap. I often rode on a bike with them—one on the front and one on the back. It was a little challenging, but all my friends I met in class helped me do it.” In the M.S.W. program Diane became president of the social work Graduate Student Organization.

Diane paid for her education through scholarships and teaching assistant stipends. These turned into formative experiences for her. “I was given the opportunity to make family-friendly structural changes for all members of the university community, working side-by-side with mentors, university leaders, and countless collaborators.”

In her first year as a graduate student intern, Diane worked with Central New York Legal Services in local family court cases. In her second year, she worked with Dr. Charles Willie, then-Dean of Student Affairs and previous chair of the sociology department whose research focused on mental health in African American families. “That was an unbelievable adventure working with him as his graduate assistant. What a privilege. He ended up being tenured at Harvard University’s School of Education. Under his mentorship, we developed and founded the Syracuse University Early Childhood Education Center.”

By the early 1970s, there was a large population of married students and families, many of whom were having children. But there were only minimal health benefits at Syracuse University. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was more than 20 years away. “Dr. Willie said to me, ‘Married students are a poverty population.’ And they were.” And although Syracuse University had the Bernice M. Wright Laboratory School, the school was a cooperative model, and it didn’t take infants. Together, Dr. Willie and Diane as his graduate assistant established the Early Childhood Education Center funded between the Department of Psychology, the School of Education, and the Office of Student Affairs. They also created a program with SUNY Upstate Medical University to help students access affordable childbirth delivery.

After completing her M.A. social science in 1976 and her M.S.W. in 1978, Diane decided to continue with a Ph.D. “Obviously I was kind of pushing against things all along, and now it became pretty obvious what the mission was. There’s no question of the intentional effort that we would make this university a model for family friendly policy.”

Trained by the Very Best

Throughout her doctoral studies, Diane worked with Dean of the School of Education Burton Blatt, Doug Biklen, Bob Bogdan, Steve Taylor, and other scholars and partners at the Center on Human Policy in the School of Education. “These were the School of Education’s flagship signature moments, and we were the literal pipeline of funding from Washington. Most of the federal funding for the nation came to Syracuse University for disability studies.” In part, the Center worked on deinstitutionalization and the promotion of community care models. “This was a big part of my journey in my 30s and 40s and this movement in disability studies transformed America,” she said.

Diane’s colleagues at the Center were trailblazers for inclusive education. The Jowonio School was an early pilot of inclusive education modeling that was created by the School of Education. They integrated these models into the Early Childhood Education Center and the Bernice M. Wright Laboratory School before they became the model for the surrounding Syracuse community, and eventually the world. “Now inclusive education is mainstream. Syracuse University School of Education built that,” she said. “I am pleased to say every one of my children have been educated within an inclusive education environment. It makes a world of difference, and everyone benefits.”
All of Diane’s doctoral work was done with the Center on Human Policy. In her graduate assistant office on campus, she kept a crib for the twins where they would sleep while she wrote her dissertation.

She earned her Ph.D. in 1983 and by then, Syracuse University was truly her home. “I had a lot of good fortune,” she said. “I had been trained by the very best and got to do the work I love, which is organizing and planning social change, having the university engage in the community and the community engage in Syracuse University.” She loved academia, and she felt part of the community. And perhaps most importantly, she could see an opportunity to make change in the place she had grown to call home. “I realized I could do activist organizing within the university community and make this a better place for all,” she said. “So, I stayed, and I never left.”

Together You Create the Shift

As a member of the University Senate since 1979, Diane was deeply involved in writing new policies for the university. She and her colleagues formed policies for women’s concerns, gender pay equity, and sexual harassment. They established benefits for parental leave, adoption, domestic partnerships, and retirement. “We looked across the nation and even in Europe to see what best healthcare policies to have at a university. We adapted them, we brought them in, we pushed for them. You have to be strategic and skilled in community change and movement and organization theory—and we were. So, we’ve attended to all those things and we’re a better place because of it.

“But we can’t rest on this,” she continued. “Although there has been accomplishment, we realize there is a harsh political context to consistently work in. But the university has been responsive through its legislative and statute process, through the University Senate, our chancellors, and our provosts, and community leaders have been responsive to working towards a progressive site. That’s a gain for the entire community.”

Active in the early women’s movement in the wider community, Diane was one of four charter members of The Women’s Center, which operated consciousness raising (or “CR”) groups in Syracuse and surrounding towns. It’s still active and located on Allen Street and Harvard Place. From 1993-1994, Diane served alongside her colleague Dr. Marie Provine, a lawyer and Chair of the Department of Political Science, as consultants to Chancellor Kenneth Shaw on women’s issues.

In 1989, Diane took on a new role establishing women’s studies at Syracuse University. She recalls university leadership asking, “Why do we need women’s studies?” “Because everything else is men’s studies,” she said. She was Director of Women’s Studies for more than 16 years. Together with her colleagues, they established women’s studies as a department in the College of Arts and Sciences, and created a major, a minor, and a certificate of advanced study. “Women’s studies is an articulation of giving women the opportunity to study every subject through the lens of women and their history and contributions. It shifts the perspective by focusing on women in all academic fields. And it has created the movement of women’s perspective entering every field of knowledge without exception. This perspective is not yet universal, and there is more progress to be made,” she said.

“You do that collectively,” she continued. “Collectively means you have women that are interested in doing this and leading this as mentors in every possible place in the university and community, and together you create the shift in knowledge.”

Following Dr. Claire Rudolph and Dr. Nancy Mudrick, Diane in 1978 became the third female faculty member to join the School of Social Work. She taught macro policy and law in mental health and developmental disability policy, emphasizing the importance of building change into structures, processes, and systems. “I know as an organizer, until you build it into the structure, it goes with the wind.” She loved teaching her students how to work with people to make progress–something she’s been doing her whole life. But perhaps her biggest challenge was yet to come.

We’re Going to Build It

In 2001, Syracuse University merged the College for Human Development, the School of Social Work, and College of Nursing together to form the new College of Human Services and Health Professions (renamed the College of Human Ecology in 2007), led by Dean William Pollard, former Dean of the School of Social Work. The merge raised questions from faculty about the future of their programs. What does it mean for the formerly independent disciplines? How would the programs continue as a collective College? “It was a challenging time,” said Diane.

In the fragile early years of transition, the university began a search for Pollard’s successor. Although a dozen candidates were vying for the job, Diane wasn’t one of them. But the university leadership identified her as a strong candidate, thanks to her track record of success in leadership and community organizing. She was heavily recruited. Still, many of the university’s leaders openly expressed their doubts about the ability of the college to succeed. She recalls a conversation with one member of university leadership who said, “If I were you, I would take the job and let it fall to its own because it’s never going to work. Let it fall apart and that’ll be the end of it.”

Even Diane had her doubts. But taking the job under the assumption of failure was unacceptable to her. She would accept the job under only one vision: that it would succeed. “I remember saying to myself, ‘If I’m going to do this, we’re going to do it! If these schools must be arranged like this, then we’re going to build it so that we can live and thrive in this structure. Otherwise, all the programs will go away.’ And that’s what I said to the committee: We’re going to build this thing.” In 2005, she was selected unanimously by full faculty vote.

For Diane, failure wasn’t an option. The programs themselves—professional programs in health, nutrition, social work, human development, and others—were too vitally important to society in promoting health and equity. “I said to the faculty, ‘We’re going to take this College and make it what we want it to be. What we know it is. But we will do it. We won’t let it fail because our subject matters are too important. We can do this together—and we will do this together.’”

Diane was the perfect choice to join people together to create a new community. “I was raised in a crowd from the time I was a young person in a large family. I move in a crowd.

“I never make decision alone,” she continued. “I assume that I have other experts around me—we bounce off ideas, we have discussions, and we come to collective work that I think represents the best of everyone. And that’s guided me even to the deanship.”

As the College structure was being formed, so was its identity. With Diane at the helm, the college was built on the principles of social justice and civic engagement. It became a college where putting theory into practice is about more than just gaining practical experience, but about serving others and fostering humility and understanding in diverse global cultural contexts.

Among the merged colleges was a curriculum for sport management, written by faculty in consumer studies, one of the academic programs that had been newly introduced as part of the merge in 2001. In 2004, Falk College launched sport management built on the framework of social justice and corporate social responsibility. In many ways, a socially minded business program was ahead of its time. But the students embraced it, and since 2006 they have raised more than half a million dollars for local charities and continue to lead discussions about diversity and equity in sports.

With support from Syracuse University alumni David Falk ’72 and Rhonda Falk ’74, the College was renamed the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics in 2011. The Falk College Complex, former home of the College of Law, was dedicated 2015. Falk programs which had been dispersed in eight different locations across campus were finally all together under one roof. “It’s 18 years since I became Dean, and we have built it. We are a huge success on every dimension,” she said. “We’ve done it as a collective. We’ve done it as a community.”

Today, Falk College boasts impactful interdisciplinary faculty research in human services, health, and social equity. The curriculum integrates highly effective theory-to-practice learning models for student training. Falk College created new undergraduate and graduate academic programs in food studies, esports, and sport analytics at Syracuse University, new programs public health from the legacy of the former College of Nursing, and new programs in exercise science which began in the School of Education. Students also benefit from new global study abroad programming across Europe, Asia, and Africa.

But most importantly, every year the College graduates a cohort of students who are prepared to make their communities stronger, healthier, and more just places. “When students come and study in Falk College, they’ve already made decisions about what they want to do in their life. They want to be largely involved in improving the lives of others through their professional career. They bring such joy, commitment, eagerness, and innovation. That’s the everyday lift you get from being around Falk students.”

Accomplishment in Doing Good

Diane recalls words from a colleague and friend who said to her, “I have never seen anybody fight so hard and forget so easy. You can work with anybody.” She has grown to be admired for her ability speak truth to power in a way that maintains respect and preserves unity.

“I have an ungainly and probably not grounded sense of self confidence, and still do to this day,” admitted Diane, a self-described “straight-shooter.” But she is still inclined toward a bit of humor. Empathy and humility have been guiding principles in her life and leadership. “I don’t feel above anybody else, and I always value diverse perspectives,” she said.

For the campus community, Diane’s legacy will be her effectiveness as an advocate for change and her ability to move groups of people together for better. “It’s a sweet and lovely feeling of accomplishment in doing good.”

But for Diane, her legacy is the one she shares with her late husband, Fred: Their five daughters, their grandchildren, and their commitment to their communities. “I am certainly a feminist. I get it right back at me now from five feminist daughters of whom I am immensely proud.” All her daughters work in education, health, and helping professions. All are heavily involved in civic activity, and not by accident “Fred and I raised our family in the City of Syracuse by determination. We’re urbanists.” Still today, Diane is a proud member of the Westcott community.

Over the years, Diane’s big family home just kept getting bigger, encompassing her family, her Syracuse neighbors, and the university community. “I feel privileged to have had the chance to practice my own values, my own mission, my own journey as I saw it with my family. To be able to execute that and to live that life comfortably and bring that to work, I mean, what an opportunity. I get to work every day at what I love to do. It is quite a privilege and I know that.”

Thanks to Diane and the progress she helped forge in favor of social justice, more people can enjoy that same privilege of shaping their own path in life and living out their own personal mission in all circles of influence–at home, at work, and in the community–instead of having to choose. After all, if Diane has demonstrated one consistent truth, it’s that change can only be achieved if it is achieved together.

Story by Valerie Pietra. Special thanks to Matt Michael for editorial collaboration and contributions and Syracuse University Archives Special Collections Research Center for research and photography.

Jeremy S. Jordan, a seasoned academic with extensive experience in sport and recreation management, has been named the next dean of the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. The announcement was made today by Vice Chancellor, Provost and Chief Academic Officer Gretchen Ritter. His appointment, effective September 1, was approved by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees.

“Jeremy Jordan brings a combination of academic leadership experience and hands-on industry knowledge that will be a boon to Falk College and its professional programs—from food studies to marriage and family therapy to social work,” Provost Ritter says. “I look forward to working with him, especially on important initiatives like the launch of the esports degree and the expansion of the sport management program.”

Jordan is currently the vice provost for faculty affairs at Temple University in Philadelphia, where he is also a professor and Ed Rosen Senior Research Fellow in the School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management’s Department of Sport and Recreation Management. He is the NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative, and has also been the director of the Sport Industry Research Center and the Millard E. Gladfelter Research Fellow.

Jordan’s research focuses on the impact of sport participation and events on individuals and communities, as well as the social, environmental and financial impact of sport events and organizations. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and has participated in more than 65 funded research projects.

Before joining Temple in 2008, Jordan held faculty positions at the University of Miami, Mississippi State University and the University of Memphis, and served as the athletic director at La Sierra University in Riverside, California. He earned a Ph.D. in sport management from The Ohio State University, a master’s degree in exercise and sport science from the University of Utah and a bachelor’s degree in physical education from La Sierra.

“I am honored to have been selected as the next dean of Falk College and look forward to becoming a member of the Syracuse community,” Jordan says. “The college is known for its academic excellence, impactful research and commitment to community engagement. I admire the culture and rigor of the college and Syracuse University, and I look forward to contributing to the success of both with the support of the students, staff, faculty and alumni.”

The dean search committee, convened by Provost Ritter in February, was co-chaired by Falk College faculty members Mary Graham, professor of sport management and faculty athletic representative, and Katherine McDonald, associate dean of research and professor of public health.

“I am grateful to the committee members for their hard work in recruiting a talented leader like Jeremy Jordan to join our campus community,” Provost Ritter says.

Jordan succeeds Diane Lyden Murphy, who is concluding her tenure as dean of the Falk College, a position she has held since 2005. She has served 45 years at Syracuse University. “Diane has truly left her mark on Falk College, shepherding it from its early days and overseeing multiple successful initiatives,” Provost Ritter says. “I thank her for her service and her incredible contributions to the college and the University.”

This past April, the Department of Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) in Falk College hosted its first in-person residency for master of arts online students.

The department welcomed 33 students from all over the country, and for many it was their first experience in Syracuse. The students attended workshops, learned therapeutic skills from MFT faculty and staff, and shadowed residential students to get a sense of the services offered at MFT’s Couple and Family Center at Peck Hall in Syracuse, near the Syracuse University campus.

The three-day visit culminated with a keynote presentation by Falk Family Endowed Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy Linda Stone Fish, lunch, a campus tour, and social time at the Inn Complete pub on South Campus.

Before they visited Syracuse, we asked two online students, Stacey Martha McDonald Lowe and Ali Asad Somjee, to introduce themselves and explain why they decided to pursue an online MFT degree. Here’s what they wrote:

Stacey Martha McDonald Lowe

In 1988, upon beginning my undergraduate studies at Howard University, I did not initially declare a major. I was still trying to figure out how to make meaning of my life’s work. At that time, I was not sure what “I wanted to be when I grew up,” but what I did know was that I wanted to help people and have a positive impact in the lives of children and adolescents. I wanted to help people.

My early years as a student at Howard University introduced and reinforced the notion that to whom much is given, much is required. As such, I feel as though it is my responsibility to use my gifts, talents, and knowledge gained in service.

I come to the MFT program at Syracuse University as a non-traditional student. I have worked for the federal government at various agencies in a variety of positions for 30 years. The positions that I found most fulfilling were the ones where I had opportunities to connect with people and help them in a way they found meaningful. I began to ask what should become the cornerstone of the next phase of my life as I seek to be a positive force in the world. After much consideration, I realized that many already rely on me for informal counseling and that the responsible thing to do would be to receive formal training.

The next step for me was to research MFT programs. I live in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Local options are very limited, so I expanded my search to include online programs. I am very happy to have the opportunity to study at Syracuse. I will admit that prior to beginning the online MFT program at Syracuse, I was a little skeptical (my own personal bias toward in-person classes), but I was excited to have an opportunity to receive the training that I needed despite the lack of opportunity available locally.

But I started thinking, “How will I connect with my colleagues and professors?” These concerns were quickly resolved. I have felt connected to, and related well with, my classmates and professors since day one. My learning experience has far exceeded any expectation that I had.

Ali Asad Somjee

I deeply value my relationships and connections with people; it is in authentic interactions with others that I find myself most engaged in the “flow state” described by the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. After I transitioned from a career in finance to my current career in the nonprofit industry, I focused completely on working with adolescent youth to mentor and help them develop their social-emotional skills.

These experiences helped me realize how central relational dynamics are for me as both subjective meaningful experiences and a mentally stimulating intellectual topic. These experiences and my intellectual interest in psychology led me to discovering Marriage and Family Therapy as a discipline and career path that I now choose to embark on.

My professional goal is to become a formally trained and licensed practicing therapist. Additionally, I intend to combine this professional goal with my personal goal of learning and growing and integrating all my learned knowledge and experience to develop myself as a person and add value to my graduate program, discipline, and patient/clients. Personally, I am very curious about people’s life experiences, backgrounds, and values.

As someone working full-time, I value flexibility and the ability to study at my own pace. For this reason, I searched for quite a while to find an online MFT program from a highly reputed university. I realize that an online program forfeits the value of in-person discussions and connections, so I look forward to the practicums and on-campus residencies as avenues to connect directly with professors, mentors, colleagues, and patient/clients.

Editor’s Note: Somjee was recently awarded a New Writer’s Fellowship from the Family Process Institute. The fellowship supports the development of new scholars who will advance systemic theory, research, and clinical practice grounded in a commitment to social justice.

Visit this MFT webpage to learn join other caring professionals in the online master’s program in Marriage and Family Therapy at Syracuse University.

More than 240 individuals, including individuals, couples, parents, and children, attended Trans Support Day on April 22, 2023, hosted by the Syracuse University Trans and Gender Expansive Support Team. Guests had the opportunity to connect with local trans-affirming providers and resources; access free clothing and makeup; get free services from hair, nail, and makeup artists; access trans-affirming sex products; receive therapeutic support for parents of trans youth; and have a space for youth to connect.

“It was absolutely heartwarming to see the excitement and support radiating from all who participated to provide such a welcoming, affirming, and loving space for the trans community,” says associate professor Deborah Coolhart, Ph.D., LMFT.

The annual Trans Support Day started in 2018 and returned this year after a hiatus due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Coolhart says the 2023 event was a huge success, thanks to the leadership and support of assistant teaching professor Tristan Martin, Ph.D., 22 marriage and family therapy students, and marriage and family therapy faculty and staff. This year, Trans Support Day saw a remarkable increase in attendance—from 40 in 2019 to 244. “This is what support looks like!” says Coolhart.

“The current political landscape for trans folks is threatening and scary, making this event so necessary and special,” she says. “In a world that often does not welcome trans people, I could see on the faces of the guests the gratitude, validation, and support they felt having a space that was celebrating them and connecting them to the resources they need.”

Coolhart founded the Trans and Gender Expansive Support Team in 2004. The Trans and Gender Expansive Support Team is part of the Syracuse University Couple and Family Therapy Center, housed within the Falk College Department of Marriage and Family Therapy, located in Peck Hall, just north of main campus on East Genesee Street.

Students on the Trans and Gender Expansive Support Team receive specialized training to provide gender-affirmative therapy for transgender people and their families and assist in the readiness process for medical gender transition. “It is amazing to see how the team has grown in all that it does for the community,” Coolhart says.

In the Couple and Family Therapy Center, marriage and family therapy students gain supervised, hands-on clinical experience while providing free therapy services to families, couples, and individuals across Central New York. The Department of Marriage and Family Therapy prepares students to work with marginalized populations, at-risk youth, and the LGBQ and Transgender communities.

For events in June to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community during Pride Month, visit Syracuse University’s community calendar.

Along with Dean Murphy, the entire Falk College community of students, faculty, staff, alumni, community partners and friends, congratulates to the Class of 2023! Falk College’s seven academic departments and schools represented 529 degree candidates, including:

• 321 undergraduates;
• 155 masters candidates;
• 50 students earning certificates of advanced study, and;
• 3 Ph.D. students.

Through the month of May, departments across Falk College honored student achievements and celebrated the graduating Class of 2023, which are detailed on individual department websites.

Falk College Convocation was held Saturday, May 13 at Lally Athletic Complex. Falk College Convocation, other college convocations, and the May 14 Syracuse University Commencement ceremony, were recorded and are available to view on the Syracuse University commencement website and is also included below.

Falk College Convocation | Saturday, May 13 | 5:30 p.m. ET

Syracuse University Commencement | Sunday, May 14 | 9:30 a.m. ET

Diane Lyden Murphy, dean of the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, received Syracuse University’s highest honor–the Chancellor’s Medal–at the One University Awards Ceremony April 21 at Hendricks Chapel.

The Chancellor’s Medal is awarded to individuals in honor of their trailblazing and extraordinary contributions to the University, to an academic body of knowledge, or to society. Dean Murphy, who was appointed Dean of the College of Human Services and Health Professions (now Falk) in May 2005, checks all three boxes.

“This medal is given for the very things Diane has always done here: extraordinary contributions to the University, to the community, to academic knowledge,” Chancellor Kent Syverud said before presenting the Chancellor’s Medal to Dean Murphy. “She’s done those things, but she’s also done one thing that’s even rarer and worth celebrating and I can say this from experience, she has consistently and faithfully had the courage to speak up.

“She’s had the courage to speak up, including to chancellors, when things are not right, when they could be better, and even more rare is that after speaking up she has the integrity to roll up her sleeves and actually work to make them better,” Chancellor Syverud added.

Dean Murphy was one of several 2022-23 award recipients who were honored at the April 21 ceremony. Watch the video of the Chancellor’s Medal presentation here:

Dean Murphy received four degrees at the University and joined the faculty in the School of Social Work in 1978. Prior to her appointment at Falk, Dean Murphy served 17 years as director of the Women’s Studies program in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Dean Murphy’s many contributions to the University include co-authoring the University’s sexual harassment policy; initiating studies of gender pay equity; developing adoption and domestic partner benefits; and creating a family-friendly environment for students, faculty, and staff.

Chancellor Syverud started his remarks by reading a news release from January 1973 about Dean Murphy’s appointment as a personnel intern in the Office of Student Affairs who would “specialize in the problem of married students.” She served as a liaison between married students and the administration and from that work arose the first childcare center on campus.

“There have been a lot of initiatives in the last 50 years at Syracuse University to help people and populations in our community,” Chancellor Syverud said. “There have been precious few where Diane Lyden Murphy has not been present and accounted for in support of doing the hard work and listening and doing the problem-solving and speaking up to make things better.

“We talk about diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and support for survivors, Diane was there often before most of the world had developed the vocabulary to describe the problem and the opportunity,” Chancellor Syverud added. “Going back to that first press release, Diane never regarded married students as a problem, she never regarded these things as problems, she regarded them as opportunities. And boy, she’s made an impact on this University! I can’t imagine what this place would be like today without her work, but I’m certain it would be a less accomplished and a colder and less just and less human place.”

The Chancellor’s Medal is the latest in an extensive list of awards Dean Murphy has received while at the University, including the Excellence in Graduate Education Award from the Graduate School, the Francis McMillan Parks Women of Influence Award, and a Chancellor’s Citation. In 2005, the Women’s Studies Program established the Diane Lyden Murphy Women’s Studies Activism Award in her honor.

It’s hard to miss the approach of Valentine’s Day if you step into most U.S. stores this time of year. Products and advertisements are blanketed in pink and red, reminding customers of all the merchandise they can buy to demonstrate and quantify their love.

Beyond the material items, Feb. 14 can be a pleasant or painful reminder about the relationships in your life. From romantic partnerships to deep friendships, the hyper-focus around how we connect with others is on full display.

Tristan Martin is an assistant teaching professor of marriage and family therapy in Syracuse University’s Falk College. Clinically, in private practice, Professor Martin provides support for the LGBTQ community, with specialization in supporting gender transition. He teaches classes in family therapy and has a research focus on transgender sexuality within the intersection of relational and erotic diversity.

Professor Martin answers five questions about relationships, approaching the topic of therapy with your partner and dealing with loneliness around Valentine’s Day:

When it comes to romantic partnerships, what are signs that you are in a healthy relationship?

There are a few words that come to mind when thinking about healthy relationships: communication, respect and safety. Of course, this depends on the relationship, with different themes coming up and manifesting in different ways, yet they all tie together.

In healthy relationships, communication is flowing and there is respect to express oneself nestled in the security that your partner will provide support. Safety includes not only physical safety but emotional safety, honesty, trust and kindness throughout your journey together.

What are some signs that it is not a healthy relationship?

In unhealthy relationships, the dysfunction lies in patterns that have culminated through time. An unhealthy relationship often feels like you are walking on eggshells around the other person. Another sign may be imbalance where one partner is doing all the work in the relationship emotionally and/or physically.

A lack of communication is often a big sign, and for one partner this might be a product of the pattern—not feeling safe, but controlled, disrespected and/or intimidated, feeling they cannot express their experience with their partner. This lack of respect and support might build into resentment over time, leading partners to feel unhappy and dissatisfied with their relationship.

What can you recommend to couples where one person may be interested in seeing a therapist or mental health professional, but the other person is not? How do you approach this rift?

This is a common narrative in therapy: one partner made the appointment to salvage the relationship. For the partner that is not interested, it often ties into that resentment piece, that they don’t feel validated or heard, so why put themselves in that position again?

However, therapy is a place to feel seen and heard, and for that person that is not interested, often it creates a corrective experience with a neutral party for all partners to discuss their experiences and needs moving forward.

For those seeking romantic partnerships, moments like Valentine’s Day can feel lonely and isolating. What advice do you have for navigating those feelings?

Valentine’s Day does not have to be a partnered holiday, it can be a day celebrated solo as well. This might start by making intentions to not get swept up in the commercialization of the holiday. Instead focus on connection to self by showing love to yourself in ways that bring joy, celebrate your own health and happiness, make connections with others, and create a fun day for yourself. Overall, remember that it is just a day and the next day the facade of the holiday will likely fade in many relationships.

Does anything else come to mind when you think about Valentine’s Day? Are there common trends or challenges you have observed in your line of work?

Valentine’s Day has roots in ancient Roman tradition, with various stories surrounding the origin. Although there is this deep tradition, it has become quite the “Hallmark holiday.”

Yes, for some wrapped in the chaos of life, it can be a moment for connection and intention. However, clients have often expressed the need to express their love throughout the year, instead of focusing on one specific day.

Wanting to make a difference in her adopted home of Syracuse, Johnson founded Half Hood Half Holistic out of a desire to help Black people work on their mental, physical and spiritual well-being. The wellness business curates and centers Black individuals, families and couples, allowing them space to heal and work on treating their holistic, or whole, person.

“The overall goal of Half Hood Half Holistic is to create what we call accessible healing, services that are either low- or no-cost and are relevant to our community and accessible in different ways and on different platforms. Really, this was born out of the fact that in my work with Black and brown folks as a therapist, therapy itself didn’t seem very accessible. It didn’t feel very relevant and in my own practice, I wasn’t serving the community that I felt so close to. I wanted to create something that was very much relevant to that community, while also being culturally sensitive and accessible. Half Hood Half Holistic has been the culmination of that dream and that vision, and it definitely keeps me busy,” Johnson says.

Johnson, a native of Buffalo, New York, earned bachelor’s degrees in Human Development and Family Science and social work and master’s degrees in marriage and family therapy and social work from Falk College, attendeding Syracuse University on a full-ride scholarship, thanks to a program called Say Yes to Education.

The author of the “Self Love Workbook for Black Women,” Johnson discusses what holistic health means to her, what healing looks like for Black people and why it’s important to debunk the stigmas and stereotypes associated with seeking mental health services. She also shares how she helps make holistic healing accessible for all who seek it and the important role holistic healing plays in helping communities heal from racial harm.

~ An SU News story by John Boccacino originally published on Thursday, October 27, 2022