Liv Stratman said she and her siblings were born into a “big Catholic family,” and were all named after saints but are now known by less formal names. Although the name on her birth certificate reads Olivia, it has never been her identity.
“I have always gone by Liv,” Stratman, a creative writing graduate student at University of Wisconsin-Madison said. “I was known as Liv … My parents enrolled me in school as Liv.”
Although she is identified as Liv on her two previous degrees from the University of Ohio as well as on her bills and credit cards, Stratman said she was identified as Olivia in places like class rosters, the directory and in her email account.
Thanks to a new university policy, though, Stratman can now change this.
Through the Preferred Name Policy implemented this year, students can use the My UW portal to change their name in locations on campus where a legal name is not absolutely necessary. For instance, names can be changed in the UW directory and some class rosters.
Gabriel Javier, assistant dean of students and director of the LGBT Center, was part of the team that implemented the new policy. He said approximately 200 students have changed their names so far.
The students range from international students who prefer to be identified by a Western name, to those who have undergone a gender transition or those like Stratman, who simply prefer a different name.
“People have … really welcomed the policy,” Javier said.
Still, he said, the implementation is a long process. Javier and other officials are continuing to work on details like changing how names appear on Learn@UW and extending the Preferred Name Policy to faculty and staff. Class rosters also do not all come from the same source, so some do not change after students have indicated their preferred name, and officials are working to change the issue.
“With a place this big its bound to be complicated,” Javier said.
Stratman, also a teaching assistant, said one remaining problem is while emails are sent listing her preferred name, her students still see her name as “Olivia” on class rosters. Even so, she said she is glad for the policy.
“I’m really happy the university is taking a step to do this,” Stratman said. “I was a graduate student here last year, and it was really frustrating. On the English Department website where I’m listed and there is a picture of me, they actually listed me as Olivia and then in quotation marks it says ‘Liv’ Stratman, which is kind of insulting almost, like I’m Evil Knievel or something.”
