Say you’re an incoming male first-year student. Put yourself in those shoes. Imagine packing up all your things and heading off to college, excited for an independent, fresh start. Now imagine walking into your new dorm room in Umrath for the first time. You probably remember this experience-how nervous you were, the anticipation, the sense of starting a great new adventure away from home.

Now imagine that your male self walks into your new dorm room, and you’re faced with a petite blonde girl hanging up her dresses in the closet. Upon spotting you, she runs over and hugs you, crying, “Oh my gosh! I’m so glad to meet you! I’m so excited-you seem like such a cool girl. We’re totally going to be like sisters!” You want to say, “But I’m a man!” But you have to room with this girl-what can you say?

That night, you go to the bathroom. When you walk into the mens’ bathroom, you’re greeted with shrieks. “You’re not supposed to be in here!” they yell. “This is the boys’ bathroom! The girls’ bathroom is over there!” You hang your head, face red, and slip into the girls’ bathroom. “I don’t belong here,” you keep thinking to yourself. “Why can’t I be recognized for who I am?”

For transgender students, this situation isn’t an exercise in imagination-this is everyday life. And how did you feel as you read and imagined yourself in that situation? Didn’t you feel excluded, lonely, confused?

For that very reason, I believe that Residential Life needs to change their policies to improve conditions for transgender students. The change that I propose is two-fold. The first regards upperclassmen. Since students are allowed to choose whom they live with after freshman year, I believe that transgender students should be allowed to choose roommates based on their gender identity.

The second part regards incoming students. I believe that transgender students should have a space on the application to indicate their gender identity and their living preference. Similarly, non-transgender student should have a place to indicate their comfort level with living with a transgender student. This will help guarantee that non-transgender students matched with transgender students are welcoming and won’t be oppressive towards a transgender roommate. Efforts also need to be made to make students aware of these issues during orientation-gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues deserve more than just a casual mention in Choices 101.

And yes, some will say, “That’s too radical! Incoming students will see that and think Washington University is a crazy place and decide to go somewhere else.” And to that I say: great! If a student is so uncomfortable with Washington University even recognizing the rights of minority students, then I doubt Washington University would be the best place for them anyway.

And others will say, “Why should we support these particular people? There’s just a small sub-group anyway.” Washington University already supports many minority groups for a simple fact: diversity. Transgender students, just like every student on campus, bring a valuable perspective. By supporting transgender students, Washington Unieversity helps open a dialogue on gender issues-something that many students don’t have experience with until coming to college. And when minority groups are formally supported, Washington University is able to assemble the best freshman class possible. Think of an excellent high school student, trying to decide between Washington University and an Ivy League school. If Washington University is open and supportive of these students, then for a student with a choice of elite schools, Washington University will quickly move to the top of the list.

Besides the benefits of having these students, it’s simply a matter of human rights. Everyone has a right to appropriate housing, especially since on-campus housing is required for first-year students. Maybe you didn’t like your roommate from your first year-or maybe you did. Either way, I sincerely hope that you didn’t feel that you were living in a situation that oppressed you and made you feel uncomfortable with who you are. In my opinion, no one should have to live like that. If you feel this way too, please contact Residential Life to tell them that you oppose oppression in housing. With support, I have no doubt that we can make Washington University the most welcoming, diverse place it can possibly be.

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