The
Vermont Cynic OCTOBER 11, 2017
VOL. 134 – ISSUE 7
V TCYNIC.COM
STUDENTS CALL FOR GENDER INCLUSIVE BATHROOMS Highest Use Buildings at UVM
FEATURE Page 7: PILES
= 1 gender inclusive bathrom
Students call for LGBTQA support Lilly Young Staff Writer Though UVM is nationally recognized for LGBTQA inclusivity, students say there is still work to be done for the queer community. “There’s kind of an ongoing theme of UVM calling themselves progressive but not really doing enough,” said Bella Mezzaroba, officer of Free2Be said. The University is ranked on the Advocate and Campus Pride’s list of top-10 trans-friendly colleges and universities. Mezzaroba said the amount of gender-inclusive housing available to students is inadequate. LGBTQA students are pushing for gender-inclusive housing in every program on
Bailey-Howe Library Davis Center Waterman Old Mill / Lafayette Discovery Hall Billings Marsh Life Sciences
campus, Mezzaroba said. Another push is being made for mandatory diversity training for professors and Sodexo workers. There is currently optional training available at the Allen House, but not all attend, Mezzaroba said. “There’s been a lot of instances of Sodexo workers misgendering students. They don’t mean it out of maliciousness, they just don’t know,” Mezzaroba said. Workers often say “sir” or “ma’am” when referring to students, which may misgender students, Mezzaroba said. “I feel safer being openly queer on Church Street than I would some place in Philadelphia, but that doesn’t mean LGBTQA continued on page 2
Kalkin Dewey Stafford Given / Rowell Complex Patrick Gym / Gutterson
Sophomore Reginah Mako speaks at the Student Forum for Racial Justice Sept. 30 in the Davis Center Livak Ballroom. The forum was hosted by the students who presented a list of demands to President Tom Sullivan Sept. 27. NICK COLLIAS/The Vermont Cynic
Votey Data: Aug. 2016 UVM Gender-Inclusive Task Force Report
Students want new bathrooms John Riedel Senior Staff Writer Students are calling for more gender-neutral restrooms across campus. UVM-owned buildings have 1,473 restrooms, 253 of which are gender-neutral, according to UVM’s 2016 Lavatory Inventory. Access to these restrooms is a huge concern for students who use them, said Becky Swem, education and outreach professional of the LGBTQA Center. “One issue is a safety issue,” Swem said. “There are transgender students who might not drink water because they are concerned about using the bathroom on campus, and that can cause health issues.” Trans students who use gender-neutral bathrooms have to travel across campus just to use a restroom, she said. “Another issue is they can’t use the bathroom because they are worried if they will
be harassed for choosing the bathroom that they want to use,” Swem said. The LGBTQA Center is creating spaces for everyone to feel comfortable in, she said. UVM published the Gender-Inclusive Restroom Task Force Report Aug. 17, 2016. It studied access to restrooms on campus for LGBTQA students and made recommendations. The report suggested creating gender-inclusive restrooms in high-traffic buildings. It suggested adding restrooms to 13 buildings. Four of these still do not have gender-inclusive restrooms. Junior Z McCarron petitioned for the increase of more bathrooms in the Bailey/Howe library April 22, 2016, they said. “[The petition] ended up escalating to the point where we were sitting in the dean of libraries’ office refusing to leave during finals week,” McCarron said. Upon learning of the sit-in,
President Tom Sullivan met with campus leaders to discuss the issue and created the GIRT report as a result, McCarron said. “The GIRT report is suggestions,” McCarron said. “It’s not policy or a committee with power to change these issues.“ McCarron has continued to organize students to implement the report’s suggestions. “We’ve identified specific high-use areas and a lot of them don’t have gender-inclusive restrooms,” McCarron said. On the LGBTQA Center’s website is a map of all gender-inclusive restrooms on campus. Old Mill, Lafayette, Billings and Dewey Halls do not have gender-inclusive bathrooms, according to the map. The Christie-Wright-Patterson complex has only two gender-neutral restrooms. McCarron is hopeful UVM will increase these numbers in the long-term.
UVM students organize racial justice forum Alex Verret Cynic Correspondent
Following a march lead by student leaders and a meeting with President Tom Sullivan to meet, UVM students held a racial injustice forum. A group of students that presented a list of demands to President Tom Sullivan Sept. 27 hosted the forum Sept. 30. The Student Forum on Racial Injustice at UVM was held for students to voice their experiences and concerns directly to University, according to the event’s Facebook page. Sullivan’s public response, issued via the UVM listserv on September 29, to the September 27 list of demands, was “[a breach of ] our agreement that the administration would not email their response to the UVM listserv” said sophomore Harmony Edosomwan, president of the Black Student Union. “It was kind of like a slap in the face, saying that our negotiating is finished. ” To begin the forum, orga-
nizers asked students to sit on the left side of the Livak Ballroom in the Davis Center and faculty, staff and administration to sit on the right. “I came here today thinking we were going to be sitting at the same table, problem-solving together,” said Debra Leonard, chair of the pathology and laboratory medicine department and co-chair of the President’s Commision for Inclusive Excellence. “Instead, I feel like an adversarial relationship was established.” Student leaders represented the Black Student Union, Alianza Latinx, Free2Be, the Asian Student Union and other diversity, identity and advocacy groups. “[The setup was deliberate] not to build tension or to set up an ‘us-against-them’ dynamic [but to show that] the deans and the faculty of this University have failed students of color to stand up for our rights,” Edosomwan said. “Students of RACIAL INJUSTICE continued on page 2