PAGE 4: Sexual assault awareness event sees low student attendance
PAGE 7: Local historian captures bright spot in LGBTQ history
PAGE 5: Free on-campus pantry offers clothes and toiletries WEB: CFAC and college reach tentative agreement—what’s next? Volume 54, Issue 27
April 22, 2019
ColumbiaChronicle.com
Transgender Students allege mistreatment, lack of support on campus » BLAISE MESA MANAGING EDITOR FORMER THEATRE DESIGN
major Niko Gotowko dropped out of Columbia last semester due in part to the alleged transphobia he experienced. Gotowko said teachers within the Theatre Department were misgendering him and, in some cases, would make him feel uncomfortable when discussing his pronouns. One teacher used incorrect pronouns so often other students began misgendering him. It is uncertain how many students have similar complaints. Their complaints represent a new and growing dilemma for Columbia and other schools seeking to include transgender students in their diversity initiatives. Misgendering is when someone misidentifies another person by using the wrong pronouns, such as using he/him pronouns when they/them are preferred. Director of the Student Diversity and Inclusion Office Charee Mosby-Holloway called misgendering “an act of violence.” Junior radio major Hayden Hoerner also said his time at Columbia has been filled with problems. Hoerner said the first time being misgendered by a professor is like being snapped with a rubber band. Each additional time he is misgendered, the feeling gets worse,
»GRACE SENIOR/CHRONICLE
until it makes him want to vomit, he said. That feeling can worsen depending on the level of severity or who is doing the misgendering. To address the needs of LGBTQ students on campus, the college created the Gender Inclusive Initiative. “Columbia is one of few colleges in the country to have launched a five-year initiative dedicated solely to gender inclusivity,” said Senior Director of the college’s News Office Lambrini Lukidis in a March 19 email to The Chronicle. After initially interviewing Mosby-Holloway, The Chronicle requested a follow-up interview that was denied by the News Office. All questions were forwarded to Lukidis, who said, “Columbia is in many ways ahead of other institutions on this matter in terms of breadth, scope and approach.” As part of the initiative, the college created a name change form on the website and created a pronoun usage guide. But even with those measures in place, some staff and faculty members still misgender students. “I asked a teacher to use my preferred pronouns, and she keeps misgendering me like I never said anything,” said freshman creative writing major Eliza, who preferred to have their last name withheld. “That hurts, because trans people have been erased and killed in history, so how much has really changed?” SEE FEATURE, PAGES 8 & 9