House of Lewan re ects on the future of drag at Dartmouth

BY RAMSEY ASH

The Dartmouth

House of Lewan, founded in spring 2022, is Dartmouth’s frst recognized drag club. The club’s mission is to spread inclusivity, artistry and expression on Dartmouth’s campus according to members, and it hosts multiple drag shows and performances throughout each year.

The recent graduation of many infuential members of the Class of 2023 in the House has led its members to refect on the legacy the ’23s will leave behind, along with the future of the organization. These refections came with many stories of the resilience of the House’s members in the past year, citing recent national anti-trans and anti-drag legislation as well as local push-back to their mission.

The largest of the House’s performances is their annual Transform show that takes place during Dartmouth Pride celebrations, according to House executives Regan Harnois ’23 and Jaime Aranzabal ’24. The event is entirely coordinated by the House of Lewan, and it remains an integral part of Dartmouth’s Pride celebration and a unifying event for Dartmouth’s LGBTQ+ community, said Aranzabal — Mother of the House of Lewan. The House Mother takes on many of the highest executive, organizational and leadership duties. He explained the impact of putting on such an infuential event, which has drawn notable support from

Dartmouth’s LGBTQ+ community.

“I’ve been involved in a lot of queer programming on campus, and I can tell that the [queer] community shows up for an event like Transform,” Aranzabal said. “For me, that’s very powerful: to be on this large stage, with music you can hear from the Green. It’s really exciting to know that it’s an event for us and has been a great time where we can all come together.”

Harnois, social media and communications chair, who has been with the House since its inception, shared that the House will often host professional drag queens from nearby cities such as Boston, Massachusetts and Burlington, Vermont. The club hosts these professional drag queens on campus to support the

House’s performances each term by performing with the members of the House of Lewan as well as mentoring and interacting with the members. Harnois appreciated how amazing it is for the group to learn from professional artists and see them “thriving in this art form,” inspiring the members of the House.

According to student performer Rosario Rosales ’25, the House aims to promote student artistry and to be inclusive of all people interested in drag. Rosales said she has found the House to be a supportive and inclusive space for performers of all experience levels and backgrounds, speaking to her personal experience joining the House this past fall.

One of the founding members of the House, who performs under the drag name Lulu Baijiu, shared that a central mission of the House is to encourage membership of “anyone with an interest in the art of drag,” and he hopes to emphasize that drag is for people from of all sexualities, identities and backgrounds.

This was further emphasized by Justin Selkow ’24, another performer who shared that the House has been successful in showing the Dartmouth community that drag is “an artform and an avenue for expression, just like other art forms” at the College.

The House’s central missions of inclusivity, representation and expression were pioneered by leaders