Lehman College student, Sera Janneh, 27, was among the 17 victims of the Twin Parks North West residential building fire which broke out on Sunday, Jan. 9, in the Fordham Heights section of the Bronx. Janneh was a sophomore at Lehman and was majoring in psychology and minoring in early childhood education.

 

As reported by The New York Post, Janneh’s father, Tijan Janneh, said his daughter got separated from the family, during the fire, as they tried to escape the burning building. Firefighters later told him that his daughter had died.

 

Lehman College released a statement on Thursday, Jan. 13, addressing the loss of their student. “Lehman College is saddened to confirm that one of our students, Sera Janneh, a sophomore majoring in psychology, perished as a result of the fire at the Twin Parks North West apartment building on Jan. 9,” it read. “Our deepest condolences to the Janneh family and all of those who have lost friends and loved ones in Sunday’s fire. Our hearts are among those mourning in the Bronx today.”

 

Lehman officials said the college was also working to confirm the safety of other students who listed the Twin Parks tower as their address. The College posted a resource page with information about student emergency grants, other resources available to those affected by the fire, and a list of organizations accepting donations to help affected families.

 

Anne Rice, an associate professor of Africana Studies at Lehman, said she was “devastated by Sera’s needless death,” and that the two of them had formed a connection over both being one of seven girls in their respective families. “Sera was a wise and incandescent soul,” Rice said. “I was just watching a video she made for my class in which she talked about her plans to become a child psychologist.” She added, “She spoke of wanting to share her learning with her siblings and the other children she would meet in the classroom.”

 

Rice said Janneh was also a music fan who loved “Parliament Funkadelic,” an American funk music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, and primarily consisting of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s.

 

Describing Janneh as an “old soul,” Rice said she had also been a fan of Janis Joplin. “She loved music, art, poetry, and African American history,” said Rice. “Sera approached the topics we studied in African literature with compassion and practicality, and I thought of her as a very special student, someone who I would hear from and about in the coming years,” she added.

 

She said the Lehman student also loved art by Jean-Paul Basquiat, since immortalized in the film, made in the 1990s, “Basquiat,” and poetry by Ntzoke Shange, including the theatrical piece, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf.”

 

Janneh’s passion for working with children showed through her work for the nonprofit organization, Serious Fun After School, which offers after-school arts enrichment classes to kids at various New York City public schools. Janneh started working for them in November 2021 as a site supervisor at P.S. 76, in Allerton. Serious Fun After School released a statement following confirmation of Janneh’s untimely death.

 

“It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of our newest team member, Sera Janneh. Her joy and commitment to the work of Serious Fun was evident to all who met her,” they wrote. “We wish strength and peace to the Janneh family and all those impacted by the Twin Parks fire.” Janneh’s older sister, Maream, has set-up a Go Fund Me page to help the family during this most difficult of times. According to the page, Janneh’s younger sister, Aisha Janneh, remains in the hospital following injuries from the fire.

 

Lehman’s resource page is at: https://www.lehman.edu/twin-parks/. The Janneh family GoFundMe page is at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/janneh-family-emergency-relief.  Visit Serious Fun After School at: https://seriousfunnyc.org/.