UNL continues to improve on accommodating transgender, gender fluid students

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is working to accommodate transgender and gender fluid students this year. Gender-inclusive housing was available for the first time this fall, and students are now able to give their preferred name to the registrar. Yet UNL is ranked relatively low on the campus pride index, especially when compared to other Big 10 schools.

Dr. Pat Tetreault, director of the LGBTQA+ Resource Center, has worked at UNL for more than 20 years and has advocated for the LGBTQA+ community’s rights the whole time. She said UNL has made some major steps in the right direction in recent years.

Students now have a preferred name option where they can get their preferred name to show up on class and grade rosters, Blackboard and the UNL directory. Soon, having their name changed on the front of their NCard will be an option as well.

Students can also use their driver’s licenses or passports to change their gender marker information on official records, another feature new this year. Before, UNL would only go by the gender shown on a student’s birth certificate, something that’s impossible to change in the state of Nebraska unless he or she has sex reassignment surgery.

“Not all gender fluid or trans individuals want surgery or can afford surgery,” Tetreault said.

A driver’s license requires a medical practitioner’s approval for the gender marker to change. Now that students only have to show their driver’s license, it’s much easier for them to get their gender marker changed in the UNL system.

The university also has the student blue insurance plan, which covers transgender health care.

Even with so many changes, UNL still has room for improvement.

Tetreault said more resources at the university would be a big benefit to the transgender and gender fluid community. Tetreault is currently the only professional staff at the resource center; the other staff members are students.

“We just don’t have the types of resources that allow us to do as much programming, especially related to particular identities as we would like,” she said. “I think that it would be excellent to have more resources so that we would be able to do some of the academic success and support services that some of the other resource centers on campus do. …We’ve grown a lot since we’ve opened up the center, and (I think) that it’s challenging to continue to grow and meet all the needs that we see without having some additional support.”

Ty Zink, the outreach and communications coordinator at the LGBTQA+ Resource Center, said while UNL does a great job on an administrative level and has made many strides to accommodate transgender and gender fluid students, they still face difficulties that other students don’t.

Zink said as a transgender student it was difficult to navigate coming to college because the faculty and staff were just as lost on the methods that they were to take as he was.

Zink recommended that faculty and staff have uniform training on the proper conduct when advising transgender students.

“I know when it came to getting my name changed, as far as on Blackboard, that kind of thing, lots of hoops needed to be jumped through,” he said. “I think some of it was just because the staff I was dealing with hadn’t had to deal with that. …We’re striving to keep doing better on campus. Just everybody else kind of needs to be kept up to speed on what we’re doing.”

He also advised that more faculty become aware of the programs that are put in place to help transgender students. Zink said some of the best resources on campus for transgender and gender fluid students are registered student organizations such as Spectrum, the resource center (which has a trans guide on its website) and Counseling and Psychological Services, which has a variety of mental health resources available to students of all sexualities and gender expressions.

“(CAPS) have done a lot of work into making sure that they’re as accommodating as possible to LGBT students,” he said.

Along with a number of resources, UNL now offers transgender and gender fluid students the chance to live in gender-inclusive housing. Melissa Peters, assistant director of Residence Life for Student Leadership and Diversity Initiatives, said UNL’s gender-inclusive housing has been a success so far.

“They are all currently full,” she said. “So we’re holding double the amount of space for next year.”

This year, gender-inclusive housing includes two four-person suites, a private suite and one two-bedroom. In total, there are 11 spaces set aside for gender-inclusive housing.

Peters said there’s a need for gender-inclusive housing at UNL and at campuses across the country.

“We want everybody to feel safe, comfortable and included in the environment that they live in,” she said. “So having inclusive housing for any students that are transitioning and going through that process and feeling safe is really important for us.”

Peters said before gender-inclusive housing came to campus, transgender or gender-fluid students would often live off-campus, an option that isn’t as convenient as staying on campus, especially their freshman year. Now, gender-inclusive housing gives them an option on campus where they’ll feel more comfortable.

“They typically feel a lot safer because they’re living with people that identify similarly to how they identify,” she said. “It’s great for our students to see that we as administrators find it important and not just students find it important.”

According to Peters, the number of gender-inclusive housing offered is similar to the number offered at other Big Ten schools.

“We do it on an as-needed basis, so we’re holding that amount of rooms,” she said. “If we don’t fill them, obviously we’ll release them and fill them as normal.”

In addition to gender-inclusive rooms, each residence hall has a gender-inclusive or family restroom on the first floor. According to the LGBTQA+ trans guide, there are 25 gender neutral/unisex bathrooms available on the UNL campus, all of which are one-room or one-stall facilities with locks.

While UNL’s gender-inclusive housing may be comparable to the rest of the Big Ten, data from the Campus Pride Index suggests the university needs improvement in other areas. Campus Pride Index, a website that rates colleges’ LGBTQ-friendly policies, programs and practices on a five-star rating, gave UNL a three out of five.

Although not every Big 10 university is listed on the website, UNL ties with Michigan State as the lowest ranked of the conference.

“We’re kind of at the bottom in terms of the rankings,” Tetreault said. “But, in the past year, we’ve actually gone up from a one-and-a-half when it comes to gender identity, and we’ve moved up to a three on a five-point scale. So we have a three, but I think that UNL has actually been a progressive force in the state of Nebraska.”

news@dailynebraskan.com

http://www.dailynebraskan.com/news/unl-continues-to-improve-on-accommodating-transgender-gender-fluid-students/article_fc89d5f8-8106-11e5-805a-43e860d38bce.html/

But why?

This is one of those articles, where I wonder if I am living in the Twilight Zone?
"Accommodating The LGGTQ+trans"

UNL can house 11 of them..& it is not enough!? They need to double it for next year. And this is Nebraska we are talking about!? So how many people in the LGBTQ+trans community actually live in Nebraska? And the LGBTQ+trans guide, only rates them, a 3 on their scale!?
'Blue Plan' health care?
This is all a joke right!?

What about REAL women?
There is a rape epidemic in colleges across the country. That colleges, the community, politicians & the media & even women's groups ignore.
There are countless women in colleges who are already mothers.
What about the safety of their existing students ?
What about accommodating women students & their children?
Daycare center?

No..again ..the KGBTQ+trans community, a VERY SMALL segment of the population, but who screams the LOUDEST...gets their a@@ kissed. And the cries of (real) women & their children... Ya know..the FUTURE society... The majority... fall on deaf ears & are ignored.

Rant Over

I wonder if there will ever come a time when schools will once again focus on education rather than mollifying the squawking chickens of overcoddled generations.

Or are they too entrenched into a business model of making the most money while providing the least amount of education while pandering to the loudest minorities so no one pays attention to the rising costs and the dilution to worthlessness of their degrees.

At a college campus near where I live,
A real woman was forcibly raped in the campus library. Upon being summoned, it took campus police, 27 minutes to respond, from literally a block away.

they didn't want to gulp the Coffee and Donuts apparently!