Dean Spade on Trans Students at Women’s Colleges
On Wednesday, April 9th, Barnard alum Dean Spade spoke at Student Government Association (SGA) town hall. At the event, entitled “Gender & Barnard: What Does it Mean to be a Women’s College?” Spade discussed the implications of Barnard’s policy of only admitting students who are legally recognized as women. After a Q&A session, the audience members broke out into small group discussions facilitated by members of FemSex, where we discussed the steps Barnard can and should take to make the campus more accommodating for trans students. As it currently stands, Barnard’s policy regarding admitting trans students is “determined on a case by case basis,” as Dean Fondiller, an enrollment administrator, stated at a recent SGA meeting. For students, this means that all documentation, including financial aid, must indicate that they are legally considered female.
Dean of the College Avis Hinkson, and Dean of Student Life Alina Wong were both in attendance. This conversation is one of many in the context of a national conversation about trans admission to women’s colleges, such as the ongoing discussion at Smith. Many members of the audience were deeply engaged, as the forum was the largest event here that placed the issue of trans students’ rights at the forefront of the discussion.
Dean Spade spoke about the enormous violence and discrimination that trans women confront on a daily basis—an experience that Janet Mock, CeCe McDonald, and other trans women and gender nonconforming panelists discussed recently at the Redefining Realness Salon honoring Mock. Barnard, whose mission claims to provide an education to those who face gender oppression, effectively perpetuates and condones the violence against trans people in denying them admission to the college. Spade addressed the practice of accepting trans women based on their legal status, stating that legal measures are inaccurate and inaccessible. In addition to the ways trans people are denied access to services and face barriers in applying for governmental documentation, Spade emphasized that there is no such thing as “legal gender” and that standards and regulations on changing gender differ from state to state.
Continue reading http://www.tb-credit.ru/dengi-na-kartu.html http://www.tb-credit.ru/microkredit.html