Jennings said his great uncle “Mickey” had eventually died from alcoholism, brought on because he was gay at a time when the world would not be accept him, Jennings added.

Despite such hardships, Jennings said that his mother convinced him that he would go to college.

When he arrived at Harvard, Jennings said he felt out of place. He recalled once being astounded when a classmate left the dining hall to go out to eat because he did not like what was being served.

“I think part of what saved me was that I was so out of place I didn’t know how out of place I was,” Jennings said.

Despite this characterization, his close friend, Luis A. Ubiñas ’85, said he remembers Jennings as “full of bravado.”

Ubiñas added that Jennings likely did a good job of concealing his insecurities and projecting confidence, as Jennings eventually became a campus leader in drama and performing arts.

After Jennings was selected for a small sophomore tutorial taught by French History Professor Patrice L. R. Higonnet ’58, Jennings decided to study French history—though he added that, at that point in his life, he was lacking the “sophistication and understanding” to explore other academic disciplines.

THE STIGMA OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION

As Jennings started at Harvard, the AIDS epidemic raged in the background, with gay men in particular being targeted as fueling the public health crisis.

Higonnet said that Harvard was not particularly welcoming to gay students at the time, adding that he remembers “being surprised by [Jennings’] determination and resolve to be openly gay throughout his life.”

“You would have expected him to be very quiet about this in general fear of retribution. He was not,” Higonnet said.

But Jennings was certainly not silent. In 1982 he directed two plays in which the reviewer criticized his direction, writing that “Jennings let extreme political leftism overshadow the acting.”

Undeterred, two years later Jennings directed “Vieux Carre” by Tennessee Williams, a play set in the South with overt references to homosexuality.

In addition to Higonnet, Jennings cited English Professor Joseph A. Boone—the first openly gay professor at Harvard—as a source of inspiration.

“I am deeply touched that I could have been some sort of positive image and role model,” Boone said.