“I like queers!” Zach Strassburger ’06 yells from the steps of Olin at a passing tour group. “Ask your tour guide about chalking!”
Strassburger’s outspokenness helped him get a central role in a New York Times article about transgender college students. The article, which ran on the front page of the Style section on March 7, focused on transgender issues at Brown, Wesleyan, and Smith. Paige Kruza ’07, along with Strassburger, was interviewed about gender-blind housing, safety and acceptance of transgendered people on campus and the transformation of Wesleyan Women’s Rugby into Wesleyan Rugby.
Kruza and Strassburger had mixed feelings about the article.
“I thought the article was generally quite good,” Strassburger said. “I felt that Wesleyan as an institution should be happy about it because it’s really good publicity. However, the uniformly positive statements expressed in the article do not fully reflect my feelings about the administration silencing student voices.”
Strassburger criticized the Administration for threatening the status of the gender-blind hall, which may be shut down next year because no one has applied to live there in the fall. The hall’s advocates claim that because incoming frosh have not had a chance to apply, it is important for it to exist as an option.
Kruza, who at Wesleyan goes by the gender-neutral pronouns “ze” and “hir,” was dubious about the Times’ placement of the article in the Style section.
“I thought the fact that it was in Sunday Style section was absurd. The fact that the socio-economic class issues [that we discussed with the reporter] didn’t make the final cut despite all of us talking about it was a big oversight,” Kruza said. “Also, only female-identified students who are white were interviewed.”
Both students felt that the reaction to the article at Wesleyan was positive. Jessica Necheles ’07, a member of the rugby team, expressed enthusiasm.
“It was nice,” Necheles said. “They talked a lot about Wesleyan. I think what they said about rugby was accurate. When I’m with the rugby team I don’t assume anything about anyone’s gender or sexuality.”
Some people do make assumptions, however—including members of Strassburger’s extended family, to whom he had not come out as transgender. The article changed that—Strassburger’s full name and picture were featured.
“My mom wasn’t so happy with that; she wanted to be able to tell people on her own time,” Strassburger said. “My sister’s pretty excited that I got asked to be on Oprah, though, even though I turned it down.”
Strassburger said he turned down the Oprah interview partly because his mother expressed concern.
“She supports me, but she wants me to be able to lead a more private life,” Strassburger said. “It was really cool to be asked though.”
Strassburger was also asked to be on 20/20, and Kruza got a call from CNN. Neither accepted the offers.
Some Wesleyan students stumbled upon the article when it came out during spring break. Julia Mergendoller ’07 was among them.
“My mom saved it for me, and one of my relatives sent it to me,” Mergendoller said. “I thought it was good that [transgender issues] were featured in such a large newspaper. I guess my worry is that it will reinforce the stereotypes of Wesleyan, Smith, and Brown as weird hippy schools and people won’t take them seriously.”
Professor of Philosophy Elise Springer, however, believes that Wesleyan is at the front lines of a growing movement.
“I think [the article] shows…Wesleyan’s commitment to progressive politics in a way that mainstream America is willing to think about,” Springer said. “I think the views expressed in the article will be fairly standard in a few years, at least on campuses. What’s now the frontier will be common sense.”
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