Transgender Students on College and University Campuses Across America According to a survey of 75 undergraduate and graduate students from 61 different college and universities across the United States zero students indicated that their college or university included gender identity or expression in its non-discrimination policy (McKinney). Transgender individuals are treated unfairly on college and university campuses. Most campuses have ways for the lesbian and gay students to feel safe but schools are often forgetting the 'T' in LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning). The value of this issue is that is affecting more people than ever before. Twenty years ago most people didn't think that transgender was a thing you could be or it was misinterpreted into a bad thing. Now that people understand it and they feel comfortable as identifying under that umbrella, they should be able to express themselves in a place where they pay a lot of money to attend. Earlier this year the Huffington Post did a live video interview with four college students that identified as transgender. Jay Fondin a sophomore at George Washington University said “It's a very difficult environment to navigate because I find myself having to explain a lot of what trans is on daily and weekly interactions to live comfortably on campus. Like I said, it's not unfriendly but it's difficult because no one knows anything”. Susan Marine, an assistant professor at Merrimack College, analyzes why transgender students are often forgotten on college and university campuses. “Because they were developed at a time when researchers' understanding of gender transition was not adequate, traditional student development theories (and the campus policies and practices emanating from them) may be less relevant for students whose gender identity does not conform to their biologically assigned sex or whose gender is in a state of transition. By virtue of their efforts to solidify and assert an internalized sense of gender identity that does not math the gender identity they were assigned at birth, transgender individuals are tasked with negotiating the process of college differently. They must approach all the typical development tasks such as determining a purpose and calling, defining themselves academically and vocationally, and developing meaningful interpersonal relationships while they are also establishing who they are and how they choose to both present and be perceived in terms of their gender identity” (Marine 64). In Kristie Seelman's, an assistant professor at Georgia State University, article Recommendation of transgender students, staff, and faculty in the USA for improving college campuses she goes on to identify five themes that trans students have indicated are problems on their campuses. Number one is that campuses should offer education, campus programming, and support for trans individuals. “The first theme indicates that universities need to improve their ability to support transgender individuals be offering additional (1) trans-inclusive educational content, resources (e.g. library materials), and classroom curricula; (2) trans-inclusive campus programs and organizations; and (3) other forms of support for trans individuals (e.g. competent health and counseling providers, coverage of transition-related care through insurance, mentorship programs, and advertisement of allies and safe spaces). Such solution would help address two particular dimensions of institutional cisgenderism that are manifested in higher education systems — the privileging of cisgender identities, and the invisibility and isolation of trans and gender non-conforming people) (Seelman 623). A lot more could also be done to assist transgender individuals on college campuses. Another option that college and university campuses could do to help the transgender community is to have gender-neutral housing and restrooms. Rob Todaro, a junior at George Washington University, wrote an article for the student newspaper, The GW Hatchet, called A flawed campus for transgender students. Todaro writes “ The first thing GW should look at is making its housing options more inclusive for trans students. Students here have had a gender-neutral housing option for three years— but there is no random option in place. Unless students request someone else who has also selected the gender-neutral option, students are randomly housed with members of their designated gender. This is not helpful for students, especially freshman randomly placed with each other, who are either struggling with their gender identity, identify outside of the gender binary or are new to the University and do not know anyone with whom they could request to live...Installing more gender-neutral restrooms would be another step along these lines to improve the GW experience for queer students. Something as routine as going to the restroom can be very nerve-wracking and discomforting for trans students if the proper resources are not put in place across campus.” This just doesn't affect students on George Washington University's campus. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality conducted the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. Nearly one in five respondents was not allowed to use gender-appropriate housing while a student on a school campus due to being transgender or gender non-conforming. Almost a quarter of the sample was at some point not allowed to use appropriate bathrooms or other facilities at school while a student due to being transgender or gender non-conforming. Seelman describes another theme in her article Recommendations of transgender students, staff, and faculty in the USA for improving college campuses: to improve university systems and procedure for recording one's name and gender. “Participants recommended improving campus procedures for recording one's name and gender. These suggestion primarily concerned (1) providing a wider range of sex or gender options on campus forms, (2) allowing individuals to change their name and/or gender on records without having had a legal name/gender change, and (3) simplifying the process for requesting such record changes... As one staff expressed: 'I would like the common app to actually ask [for] sex and not gender. If they're going to ask [for] gender, that they have more options.'...Being able to change one's name and/or gender marker on campus records is a key process for some trans-individuals, particularly those who are transitioning, that helps to make their campus experiences more affirming.” Todaro agrees with this concept. He goes on to write “Students should be allowed to change their campus records and personal documents more easily. University of Michigan was the first college in the nation to allow its trans students to easily change their legal first name on forms, according to The Advocate. This move is smart because it prevents students from being outed by campus records, like when a professor takes attendance”. This fall, Mount Holyoke College became the second all women's college in the U.S. to being accepting applications from transgender students. “When Mount Holyoke president Lynn Pasquerella made the announcement during this year's convocation, tears welled in her eyes. She announced that the school was adopting a new policy welcoming applications from any qualified student who is female or who identifies as a woman. It's a little complicated, but what it all means is that Mount Holyoke will consider a student's application even if they were biologically-born male, but identify as a woman. The policy also includes biologically-born females who identify as males” (Carapezza). Not all students agree with this new policy a student named Emma Bickford was quoted saying, “To me, if you are still legally a man, even if you identify as a woman, you are not a woman. So this is an all-women's school and I just don't think you belong here” (Carapezza). A recent poll done by CBS news says, “Most Americans (59 percent) aren't comfortable with the idea of transgender students picking which bathroom or locker room to use, and they think they should use the facilities of the gender they were born as, while 26 percent think they should be allowed to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their preferred gender.” I'm not saying that all college and universities need to change their policies to include transgender students or to go build gender-neutral housing and bathrooms this summer. All I'm saying that is campuses should be more aware of the transgender community and the difficulties that they go through. Just making small changes such as gender-neutral housing and restrooms, making it easier to change name and/or gender on campus records, or having campus faculty educated on this issue could make a transgender student's college campus so much more enjoyable.

Works Cited
Carapezza, Kirk. "Mount Holyoke's New Transgender Policy Redefines Women's Education." Huffingtionpost.com. 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
"CBS News Poll: Transgender Kids and School Bathrooms." CBS News. 8 June 2014. Web. 17 Nov. 2014. .
Marine, Susan B. Stonewall's Legacy: Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Students in Higher Education. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley Periodicals, 2011. Print.
McKinney, Jeffrey. "On the Margins: A Study of the Experiences of Transgender College Students." Journal of Gay & Lesbian Issues in Education 3.1 (2005): 63-75. Print.
Seelman, Kristie. "Recommendations of Transgender Students, Staff, and Faculty in the USA for Improving College Campuses." Gender & Education 26.6 (2014): 618-35. Print.
Todaro, Rob. "A Flawed Campus for Transgender Students." The GW Hatchet 3 Mar. 2014. Hatchet Publications. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.