Viewpoints 3 + 4 + 5

The coordinate viewpoints are arbitrarily numbered; there is no particular order to them, it is for ease of reading and continuation. Authors that wished to have their pieces published anonymously, for fear of safety and/or well-being, include a brief author tag instead.

Viewpoint 3 Viewpoint 4

This piece was written by a student at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. This piece was written by a sophomore non-binary student currently enrolled at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

I walk across campus alongside 5-10 other families on my first tour as a prospective student of Hobart and William Smith Colleges. In the first few steps the coordinate system and the “four main differences of The Colleges” are mentioned. It sounds really cool that women have unique opportunities, but for some reason I find myself deeply unnerved. At this point in my life I cannot quite put my finger on why. My admissions officer knows I am slightly nervous about being on this campus as I do not identify as straight. So once my tour concludes, I eat lunch with my admissions officer and an LGBTQ+ identifying community member. They express how accepting the community has been towards them. On my next visit, I meet professors and students involved in the LGBT studies program. I am put at some sort of ease that there is some form of LGBTQ+-related education here on campus.

Do I forgo an education and mentorships from some of the top scientists in this country to attend another institution that allows me to feel comfortable in my own skin? At this point, I am not sure of how I identify; should I ignore this piece of my developing identity for my education? How would my trans/non-binary friends and counterparts feel, knowing that I am indirectly supporting the binary and gender roles?

I receive a letter in my Scandling mailbox stating that I have been nominated for multiple awards/recognition which will be presented on Moving Up Day. I nearly scream of excitement as I had never been recognized for academic achievement before. It is finally my turn to be appreciated. I quickly realize that these awards are not meant for me. They are meant for the female analog of my existence. I now realize I am not a woman in science. I am a non-binary person in science. What does that mean in the present and for my future?

Can I be okay with myself if I accept an award meant for a William Smith student in my particular field of science? Should I just accept the awards and move on with my life? Should I wear a dress- a piece of clothing that I feel comfortable in, but one that is extremely gendered- to hide my hesitation and distain for the situation in which I have been placed? I do not feel comfortable being a part of Hobart ceremonies either as I present, in a physical way and in my fashion sense, as female. So how do I come to terms that neither ceremony is meant for me? If I do attend, do I decline the William Smith Moving Up Day bracelet as a small rejection of the situation?

A current O’Laughlin Ambassador (the new name for Admissions student workers) tells me about a tour they gave the other day. (The pronoun “they” or other information has been used to address all people mentioned in this piece in order to protect the identity of each person mentioned.) A parent asked, “What do we do if my student identifies as non-binary?” The tour guide described how they were taken aback and eventually responded with something along the lines of, “The Colleges are working hard to take these issues into account and find a solution to this pressing issue.” They went on to say that they went to one of the professional staff members to ask what the options were. In short, the response stated that the student must apply to either Hobart or William Smith. If they could not choose and feel comfortable with that, then this school may not be right for them.

In another conversation, an O’Laughlin Ambassador pointed me to the tour guide manual. The only place where trans/non-binary applicants are mentioned is in a section called the Tough Questions which provides tour guides with hard questions Viewpoint 3 continued page 9

When I decided to come here, I was in the process of accepting my identity as a non-binary person. I struggled with the idea that I was not, in fact, a woman, despite knowing deep-down that I did not fit into the binary idea of gender. Being a William Smith student has made this process exponentially harder.

Every day, I feel the pressure to fit into the mold of “William Smith Woman” despite knowing that I never will. I get emails addressed to “ladies” and “William Smith women” and I feel that pressure double every time I read those words. The institutions of the Colleges aren’t set up for me and other trans students. The binary nature of Hobart and William Smith enforces the exclusion of everyone who doesn’t perfectly fit into that gender binary, whether trans and not.

The biggest hurdle that being at a coordinate college like HWS has placed in my path, however, is whether I feel safe coming out and whether it is worth it to be myself. I see the way that trans people who are out are treated and I question whether being myself is worth it. I see trans students repeatedly mis-gendered, not just by other students, but by professors and staff who either don’t know or don’t care about what it means to be trans. I know that my alienation from William Smith will be much worse if I am open about my nonbinary gender and I doubt that I could ever feel safe or comfortable as a non-binary Hobart student.

HWS needs to do more to support the students alienated by the coordinate system. Ideally, the coordinate system would be abolished, but if that can’t happen just yet, important steps need to be taken for the health and safety of the students of Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

First, more education needs to be given to potential students about the coordinate system. I don’t know if I would still have come if I had known more about the coordinate system, but I certainly would have been more prepared. Admissions needs to do a better job advertising the realities of the coordinate system, instead of either minimizing its importance, ignoring it completely, or touting an idealized, false version of the coordinate system. There needs to be more information given about the support systems for trans student given on tours, not just “you get to choose your college!” as my tour guide told me.

Second, all professors, staff, and administrators need to go through training about the coordinate system, its effects on students, and what it means to be trans, both here and in general. Classes need to start with everyone introducing themselves with name and pronouns. I had one professor who had us all turn in a paper with a bit about ourselves, including chosen name and pronouns. This simple step made me feel a million times more welcome in that class. The trick to asking pronouns, however is that you need to remember and use the correct ones, or at the very least correct yourself if you slip up.

In short, the coordinate system and its binary nature makes me feel unsafe, unable to by myself, and unwelcome on this campus. I know I’m not alone. There are ways to help it, but it has to start now.

Viewpoint 5

This piece was written by an upper-class Hobart and William Smith student.

I am a non-binary student.

“Genderqueer, also known as non-binary, is a catch-all category for gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine—identities which are outside the gender binary and cisnormativity. Genderqueer people may express a combination of masculinity and femininity, or neither, in their gender expression.” (Wikipedia, 2018)

I am strong — not strong like a man but strong like a strong person. I am nurturing — not nurturing like a woman but nurturing like a nurturing person. I am all-encompassing. I am divine masculinity and divine femininity. I am the sun and the moon. Gender is a social construct and I’ve denounced it from my life, therefore I am non-binary. Intrinsically, we are all non-binary but cishet people care too much about labels.

I have a vagina. I’ve always had a vagina and no one questioned my pussy power last year when I identified as a queer woman. My clit still works and you still can’t touch it.

I’m afraid to hand in my Preferred Primary Name, Gender, College Affiliation, and Chosen Pronoun Selection Form, which gives me the option to list my gender as “non-binary” and choose my pronouns to be just my name. I’m all about playing this broken system, but there’s a certain level of conforming to the institution in order to benefit from it. The scholarship funding my enrollment here is for a William Smith student. If I list myself as non-binary, will they take away my scholarship? You can say no, because my college affiliation would still be William Smith. Okay but what if I want to change my college affiliation to Hobart? Because I do. Wait, what? What kind of feminist are you? Turning your back on an all women’s college to graduate from an all men’s institution? Sounds like another woman I mean “person” sucking the patriarchy dry.

For starters, fuck you. Second, fuck the coordinate system. Fuck your traditions and fuck your transphobic alumni. I’ve been going to “Coordinate System Chats” since my first-year, for what? To prove that the Colleges realize that the coordinate system is problematic and pretend to be progressive about it? Talk is cheap and tuition is not. Give me the (HWS) degree I’m paying for and stop wasting my time. I think that’s what separates our current generation from those that preceded us: when we see a problem, we are open and eager to change. We are comfortable with taking genuine and productive steps to contemporize and update our understandings and practices. But this campus has proven time and time again that it’s conscious of how it hypermargianalizes POC, Queer and international students and STILL DOESN’T DO ANYTHING REAL ABOUT IT.

Okay so realistic action items? Here’s a few. *First, the Preferred Primary Name… selection form needs to have the option to be submitted electronically. Nice try but what genderqueer student wants to walk up to the Registrar’s front desk and hand in this form to a student worker who will then have to look at it and with a confused face have to ask the professional staff about what to do with it? *Second, train administration, faculty and staff on proper trans/genderqueer etiquette such as: not treating them differently from anyone else; not acting surprised/confused/disappointed because you didn’t expect it from a particular student; using the right pronouns; not making a huge deal in front of the class about messing up the right pronouns; and not demonizing “woman-passing” individuals who want to be affiliated with Hobart because why should I have to graduate with the less recognized degree because you think I’m a woman. I am not a woman, and I am not a man, and for that I am truly living a life of consequence at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.