I N C R O S S WO R D I D E
Observer the
March 1, 2018 VOLUME XXXIV, ISSUE 3
www.fordhamobserver.com
FROM OPINIONS
It’s Never Been About Bathrooms By FIONA WHALEN Contributing Writer
Until two years ago, transgender and gender non-conforming (trans/gnc) identities were inextricably linked in my mind to bathrooms, locker rooms and other sex-segregated spaces. This is because, like most people, the first interaction I had with a trans person was not in conversation— not in communion—but rather mediated by the news. Make no mistake: this was a distorted mediation, whereby the output on the 5 o’clock news does not begin to reflect the complexity of opinion and experience in the trans/ gnc community. While grossly incomplete, this slim cross-section of representation caught America’s attention. According to the American media, 2015 was the year of transgender celebrity Caitlyn Jenner. 2016 was the year of House Bill 2 (or “the bathroom bill” as some called it) and of the number of trans/gnc-identifying Americans leaping to 1.4 million, a doubling in just five years. 2017 was the deadliest year on record for trans women and the year when New York City mandated the transformation of all single-stall restrooms into explicitly gender-inclusive restrooms. Like most institutions of higher education, Fordham Lincoln Center had a parallel spike in dialogue about gender inclusivity on campus, with the creation of the gender advocacy coalition The Positive in 2014. Unlike comparable New York and Jesuit institutions (such as Columbia, NYU and the University of San Francisco), Fordham did not deliver on the demands of trans/gnc activists and the wider student body for inclusive policy change. What I failed to recognize amid the myriad of headlines is that this fight has never been about bathrooms. It is about recognition, visibility and celebration. I would be very surprised if any trans/gnc Ram feels fully recognized by the university, wakes up undeniably safe in the expression of their gender and struts down maroon halls knowing their existence is a celebration: a march to which every Vice President on campus beats a drum. My Fordham education should teach me these three truths. As of today, it does not. I want to focus on the third demand, because it is the required reality most alien to Fordham’s administration and to me. Queer activist Leslie Feinberg wrote in “Trans Liberation: Beyond Pink or Blue” that “Gender is the poetry each of us makes out of the language we are taught.” But what if you are not taught? What if no one taught you that you exist, much less that your life deserves to be put into stanzas? What if no one taught you that the spectrum of gender is an unprecedented opportunity for liberating linguistic creativity? A creativity that just might allow our community to thrive when the ability to survive is often too much to ask. No one
Zapata Tackles Diversity Disparities at Fordham
ANDREW BEECHER/THE OBSERVER
Rafael Zapata, appointed last fall as Fordham’s Chief Diversity Officer, recently made recommendations on how to address student concerns. By ELIZA PUTNAM Contributing Writer
Since arriving on campus in January, Fordham’s inaugural Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) Rafael Zapata has realized that drawing on “institutional memory” is crucial to progress, including the history of faculty advocacy and student organizing that led to his position’s creation. In November 2015, the Faculty Senate invited six undergraduate students to speak regarding racism on campus after student organizers condemned a white supremacist message and swastika found in an Lincoln Center bathroom and a racial slur carved onto a Rose Hill freshman’s door, and what they felt was an inadequate university response. With Fordham Pres-
ident Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J. and Provost Stephen Freedman present, Eric Taylor, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ‘18, declared that “Fordham’s treatment of black and brown students can be called nothing other than violence. The trauma that accompanies living under such a racist institution is damaging to the soul and to the mind.” After Taylor spoke, Chris Hennessy, FCLC ‘15, described an online survey asking Fordham students about their perceptions and experiences of racial bias at Fordham; five of the first twenty-two responses were racist and some were malicious. The twentieth respondent listed their name as “Black Guy” and their university affiliation “Professional Complainer,” and wrote “a completely deranged
and incredibly disturbing almost 300-word death threat.” Only weeks later, the Faculty Senate’s Task Force on Gender and Race Equity and Faculty Diversity and Retention released a report reiterating recommendations from a 2012 Task Force report that “were never pursued by Fordham.” Both reports advocated the creation of an “Office of Diversity and Equity” in senior administration to prioritize diversity work at Fordham. That same week, McShane announced his own Diversity Task Force to survey Fordham’s climate across its nine schools. That summer, the President’s Task Force completed its findings, reporting “a significant underrepresentation of racial minorities,” especially in the undergraduate student body, faculty and senior administra-
see COMMITTEE pg. 3
Inside NEWS
RHA Shake-Up
Addressing the recent changes to residential life. PAGE 2 OPINIONS
Managing Midterms
A surival guide for exam season. PAGE 6 ARTS & CULTURE
Broadway Ram
A Fordham alum makes their third appearance on the big stage. PAGE 7 FEATURES
“Men Cry”
Meet the Fordham senior using film to redefine masculinity. PAGE 14 SPORTS & HEALTH
Feeding Fordham JON BJÖRNSON/THE OBSERVER
see GENDER pg. 5
tive offices. At the time of the report’s release, all 25 members of President McShane’s Advisory Council were white. The report described a widespread “fear of speaking out” and “feelings of distrust throughout the University” that prevented people from sharing their concerns with the Task Force. It also noted that several “persons with responsible positions at the University consider it and themselves to be color-blind, which is a problematic stance, because it diverts attention from the persistence and dynamics of institutionalized racism.” Napoleon Canete, FCLC ’17 and a Task Force member, sensed that “Fordham was stagnating” in comparison to other universities, especially in its
Read how Fordham employees like Gestie Richards (right) help to keep the university running on page 8.
A dietician’s mission to promote healthy eating on campus. PAGE 16