JOHNSON CITY — Johnson City resident Greyson Jennings was recently appointed by Gov. Bill Lee to serve on the State Rehabilitation Council (SRC).

The East Tennessee State University student will serve a three-year term on the council, sharing his perspectives on state vocational rehabilitation services as a former client. As an SRC member, Jennings will assist in the review, analysis and advisement to the state on vocational rehabilitation.

According to the SRC website, the council works in partnership with Tennessee’s Department of Human Services’ Division of Rehabilitation Services (DRS) to maximize employment and independent living for Tennesseans with disabilities. It advocates for the Vocational Rehabilitation program and advises the DRS on issues facing participants in the program.

“To get this is really a stepping-stone in my disability advocacy career,” Jennings said. “Advocating for people with disabilities is something I’ve always wanted to do, but I’ve never really found my avenue to do that, and this has given me a great opportunity to surround myself with really amazing people — not necessarily people with disabilities, but people with abilities in their own ways.”

Earlier this month, Jennings traveled to Nashville, which he will visit every four months, to learn more about vocational rehabilitation, the SRC and his responsibilities as a council member.

Jennings graduated from ETSU in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and psychology and is pursuing his master’s degree in education from the Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis program in ETSU’s Clemmer College.

As an undergraduate, he was a member and president of Delta Alpha Pi, an honor society recognizing the academic success of students with disabilities. He also served as a senator in ETSU’s Student Government Association and was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity and Omicron Delta Kappa honor society.

Through many of those activities, he brought awareness and advocacy for the needs of individuals with disabilities.

“I advocate for myself by continually putting myself in organizations like Student Government and my fraternity, and just by pushing barriers and allowing myself to be like anyone else,” Jennings said. “That’s my own form of advocacy. If someone else can see that I can do it, then hopefully they will be willing to try. That’s the biggest thing I want — for people just to try.”

After graduating with his master’s degree this December, Jennings plans to seek employment in higher education student affairs or another field.

“Wherever I’m needed, I’ll go,” he says. “I want to continue what I’m doing and help whomever I can along the way, as well as myself. Also, if I’m going to stay here a while, I’d like to put myself out there in local politics. Any way I can serve the needs of our region, the better. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that whatever is going on in the world, just remember to do the right things for the right reasons.”

Jennings is the son of Stanley and Amy Jennings of Mount Carmel.