This is the question the University’s LGBTQ Resource Center is addressing with their latest goal, the preferred name initiative.
The initiative is to allow transgender students to use preferred names, rather than legal names, in the academic setting, including on students’ Lobo IDs.
Alma Rosa Silva-Bañuelos, director of the resource center, said the initiative came out of an experience that a transgender student had after being charged with academic dishonesty on a final exam because their student ID did not match the way they presented their identity in the classroom. The student’s name was not disclosed for privacy reasons.
“We didn’t want another student to ever have to go through that experience again,” Silva-Bañuelos said. “We are working with the IT Department, the LoboCard office and the Office of the Registrar to help figure out a solution. We want people that go by a different name than their legal name ... to still be able to go by their (preferred) name.”
Silva-Bañuelos said that while not all transgender students have had such negative experiences as this, she hopes the initiative will make the college experience more authentic for students by allowing them to be their whole selves.
The preferred name initiative has been given a directive by the Provost.
In addition to the preferred name initiative, the resource center is working with other departments at UNM to improve the college experience for LGBTQ students while also providing its own services.
The services include resources for LGBTQ students in both personal and academic aspects. Alongside support groups, counseling and other personal services for students, there is also a computer lab, a study lounge, an art gallery, a LGBTQ library and other academic resources in all subjects at the Resource Center.
Some of these efforts include universal/gender-neutral residency floors and bathrooms, Silva-Bañuelos said. These efforts have earned UNM a spot in the bestcolleges.com list of top 30 schools for LGBTQ students.
The universal residency floor initiative started three summers ago for transitioning and gender non-conforming students who want to live on campus and feel safe. Some student residency centers have a floor on which transgender and gender non-conforming students can live without worrying about their genders.
Gender-neutral and family-friendly bathrooms are becoming increasingly available on campus to give students who feel uncomfortable using a gender-specific restroom a safe place to use the restroom. They started a few years ago and are popping up in more buildings every year, Silva-Bañuelos said.
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She also said they are hoping to create an app for students that lets them know where the nearest universal restroom is located.
“Going to the restroom is a human right,” Silva-Bañuelos said.
Silva-Bañuelos said the center strives to work with students’ specific needs. She said some transgender students come to them with questions after choosing to transition during their university careers. These students are offered counseling and other guidance to help make the transition process as smooth and safe as possible, she said.
Renae Swope, who earned her graduate degree in December and is the current trans inclusion specialist at the resource center, said her transition was one of the factors that prevented her from connecting with the majority of her professors. She hopes the preferred name initiative helps change that, she said.
J.J. Fatemi, a junior psychology and studio arts major and gender non-conforming student, said ze doesn’t feel like ze is one thing or the other.
Fatemi said the University could improve the experience for LGBTQ students by including an “other” box on applications that contain a section asking applicants what pronouns they prefer to be called.
“Some social constructs think there are only men and women, but gender is a spectrum,” ze said. “Some people can choose not to identify themselves with a gender at all because that’s how they feel.”
Skylar Griego is the assistant culture editor at the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @TDLBooks.
