The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 41, No. 2 & Volume 42, No. 1 - 172

Just as we work to ensure
diversity of race, ethnicity,
ability, and class in our student
staff selections, so must we
consider hiring practices that
reﬂect the diversity of genders
currently on college and
university campuses.

Some ways to reduce or eliminate genderism
would be to reconﬁgure existing facilities and
ensure that new facilities are inclusive in their
construction (create single-user lockable restrooms rather than multi-user restrooms).
Spade's (2011) article "Some Very Basic
Tips for Making Higher Education More Accessible to Trans Students and Rethinking
How We Talk About Gendered Bodies" is a
possible starting place for housing and residence life professionals who want to learn
more about how to interrupt systemic genderism. Although there is no one way to go about
doing this work, the article provides some
important suggestions for how campus cultures have been structured around binary understandings of gender as well as what can be
done to begin addressing genderism in a way
that best ﬁts one's individual campus history
and culture. Speciﬁcally, we as authors agree
with Spade that housing and residence life
professionals should allow all students to self-

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identify their gender, pronouns, and name,
and these should be the basis on which decisions-such as RA selection and placement
decisions-should be made. Furthermore, we
echo Spade's suggestion that staff think about
how gender is built into campus environments
(e.g., residential spaces, restrooms) and administrative procedures (e.g., housing assignments, RA selection and placement) as a way
to deconstruct genderism.

CONCLUSION
Throughout this piece, we have made the argument that trans* students are indeed students
in transition and, as such, it is important to
examine our current practices in housing and
residence life for their effects on trans* students. This case study shows that the experience of one trans* student at Miami University
is useful in helping others think about how existing policy can serve to marginalize an entire
class of students. As trans* students' identities transition over time, either biomedically
(through the use of hormone treatments, electrolysis, and/or other medical interventions),
socially (through modifying one's appearance,
dress, comportment, and/or mannerisms
through non-medical interventions), or a combination of both, the implications of Kass's
experience seeking inclusion in residence life
leadership serve as an important revelation of
the need to constantly expand one's knowledge
and awareness of emerging student populations on college and university campuses. By
doing this, we as educators can continue to
ensure access and promote student success for
students of all genders.

THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY STUDENT HOUSING

The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 41, No. 2 & Volume 42, No. 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 41, No. 2 & Volume 42, No. 1