Trans Students in Higher Ed: Current Challenges and Pathways to Inclusion

Colleges that embrace diversity and equity as educational values have a responsibility to buffer students from threats to their safety, protect their privacy, and ensure that students can focus on learning. Yet, currently, transgender students are facing multi-prong attacks from state legislatures, social media, and hate groups. Restrictions on access to gender-affirming care and sports participation, refusal of faculty to use gender-affirming pronouns, and threats against trans people in public gathering spaces generate stress and divert student energy away from their studies. This discussion focuses on what schools can do to affirm and support trans students in this volatile climate.