On behalf of NIRSA’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Commission, I invite you to take some time this week to review the resources below. Whether you choose to integrate them into an upcoming staff training or you’re simply reading them to expand your understanding of the vital topics of equity, diversity, or inclusion, these resources can help shape your perspective on social justice.

By Dr. Genny Beemyn | Campus Pride

This article, by Campus Pride Trans Policy Clearinghouse Coordinator & DA Dirks and Consortium of Higher Education Resource Professionals Co-chair Dr. Genny Beemyn, addresses the recent revocation of the previous administration’s “Dear Colleague Letter on Transgender Students,” and offers practical steps that college campuses can take to continue to legally protect transgender students.

Trans* inclusion policies in our rec centers and programs not only help create a welcoming environment for all, but play a critical role in furthering the protection of trans students on college campuses.

For those that are just starting to look at trans inclusion policies, this article offers some great starting points.

 

By Lee Gardner | The Chronicle of Higher Education

This article from The Chronicle of Higher Education is an interview with Dr. Z Nicolazzo, Assistant Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs at Northern Illinois University, that discusses Nicolazzo’s observations of trans* communities on campus.

Mx. Nicolazzo (who identifies as trans* and uses ze/hir pronouns) spent 18 months on an ethnographic study of nine trans* students from a large urban university and wrote about the challenges and complexities facing individual trans* students in a new book: Trans* in College: Transgender Students’ Strategies for Navigating Campus Life and the Institutional Politics of Inclusion.

The interview offers a unique perspective on the issues affecting trans students. Mx. Nicolazzo urges college administrators to go deeper than best practices for gender inclusion and actually change the way we think about gender and how gender structures college environments. This is a thought-provoking stance that could revolutionize gender-based recreation programs.

Add your voice to the conversation

We encourage you to connect with colleagues from across North America on this important topic. Join NIRSA’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Community of Practice today to find more resources or to participate in the online discussion.

 | NIRSA Profile

Trineice Durst is currently a Senior Associate Director in the Department of Recreational Sports at University of California, Berkeley; she also serves as a commissioner on NIRSA's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Commission. Trineice can be reached at durst@berkeley.edu.