Dean Jacqueline Taylor will be stepping down from her historic position at DePaul March 15 and moving to the Garden State as the new provost and vice president of academic affairs at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ).

Taylor’s list of professional accomplishments at DePaul is immense. In addition to founding the entire College of Communications, she has also taught English and communications courses in her 32 years as a professor at DePaul. She has been the dean of her college for the last 10 years.

“I joined the communication program when it was in the English department with only about 60 or 70 majors,” said Taylor, who decided to make the College of Communications separate from the English department.

And many professors were glad to see the change occur.

“The skills required to succeed in communications would typically take place in English classes, but specific to reading, not to the (advertising) industries,” said Susan Reilly, a DePaul public relations and advertising professor.

The College of Communications is now home to 2,000 students. In addition to structuring the entire program, Taylor launched four new programs under the college, including journalism, media and cinema studies, health and communication, and relational communication.

“Being founding dean of this college has been the professional highlight of my life,” said Taylor. “I practically tear up now that I’m leaving.”

Aside from the outstanding academic achievements Taylor has accomplished at DePaul, she is just as proud of the work she has done for the LGBT community.

In the 1980’s, Taylor was the advisor to a Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), which was the first gay and lesbian student organization on campus. During the first few years, GLAAD had to deal with acts of discrimination from fellow students who tore their posters torn down around campus.

Despite these acts of hate, Taylor proudly helped GLAAD become the first gay and lesbian student organization to receive official recognition form any Roman Catholic University in the country.

During her time at DePaul, Taylor also worked to help gay and lesbian faculty members gain domestic partnership benefits.

“I’m really proud to have contributed to DePaul becoming a more hospitable environment to gay and lesbian faculty and students,” said Taylor.

The decision to leave DePaul for TCNJ did not come easy for Taylor, but she is looking forward to working on a traditional undergraduate campus.

The process for finding her successor has already begun. DePaul is electing a new provost March 2, who will then select an interim dean to serve the College of Communications for the remainder of this year and next year. During this time the university will be conducting a nationwide search for Taylor’s replacement.

Kaela Lovegren, a junior in DePaul’s College of Communications, believes that the next dean will have some pretty big shoes to fill.

“The new dean will be responsible for thousands of students, and they have to make sure we are all successful and taken care of by our professors and our advisors,” said Lovegren.

While Taylor’s innovation and leadership will be missed, she will leave DePaul as a historic figure.

“It’s not going to be easy to leave a place that I love so much,” she said, “but it’s also really exhilarating to have a new adventure.”