UW-Madison faculty and students met at the Education Building Thursday to discuss ways to promote transgender inclusivity on college campuses.
Z Nicolazzo, an assistant professor of higher education and student affairs at Northern Illinois University, spoke to approximately 50 students and faculty about the importance of fostering an inclusive campus environment, saying there are ongoing obstacles that transgender individuals face on campuses across the country.
Nicolazzo stressed the importance of education in the inclusion process. She said one of the first steps to fostering gender inclusivity is having cisgender people intentionally reach out to queer studies people, to the LGBT Campus Center and to various other queer spaces.
“Everyone has a stake in gender liberation,” she said.
UW-Madison’s first-ever campus climate survey found disparities in how transgender students experience campus. Data show that 51 percent of transgender students have experienced hostile, harassing or intimidating behavior on campus, and 25 percent have seriously considered leaving the university.
Additionally, a quarter of UW-Madison’s transgender population feel excluded on campus. Just nine percent of white students reported feeling similarly.
According to Nicolazzo’s research, transgender identities are being erased and replaced with stereotypical definitions of sexuality, which is contributing to the oppression of transgender individuals on college campuses.
Gender binary discourse regulates what is “appropriate” gender and permeates all facets of campus, including classrooms, she said.
“It’s not always things that are said,” Nicolazzo said. “It’s a hidden curriculum of policies, practices, attitudes and behaviors.”
Chris A. Barcelos, an assistant professor of gender and women’s studies at UW-Madison, said there are ways to combat gender binary discourse in the classroom. This can be done, Barcelos said, by including transgender authors in class curriculum or by integrating non-binary topics throughout the semester rather than in just one lesson plan.
Nicolazzo agreed, adding that change needs to be made not only in the classroom, but across campus because resources are highly maldistributed.
“We need to invest in change beyond bathrooms and pronouns,” she said.
Barcelos addressed UW-Madison’s divide in perceptions of inclusivity, acknowledging that while many students feel this way, university resources like the LGBT Campus Center can help transgender students by giving them a support system.
“You may feel like you are not welcome, but you are,” Barcelos said.
