Trans* in College

This is both a personal book that offers an account of the author’s own trans* identity and a deeply engaged study of trans* collegians that reveals the complexities of trans* identities, and how these students navigate the trans* oppression present throughout society and their institutions, create community and resilience, and establish meaning and control in a world that assumes binary genders. This book is addressed as much to trans* students themselves – offering them a frame to understand the genders that mark them as different and to address the feelings brought on by the weight of that difference – as it is to faculty, student affairs professionals, and college administrators, opening up the implications for the classroom and the wider campus.This book not only remedies the paucity of literature on trans* college students, but does so from a perspective of resiliency and agency. Rather than situating trans* students as problems requiring accommodation, this book problematizes the college environment and frames trans* students as resilient individuals capable of participating in supportive communities and kinship networks, and of developing strategies to promote their own success. Z Nicolazzo provides the reader with a nuanced and illuminating review of the literature on gender and sexuality that sheds light on the multiplicity of potential expressions and outward representations of trans* identity as a prelude to the ethnography ze conducted with nine trans* collegians that richly documents their interactions with, and responses to, environments ranging from the unwittingly offensive to explicitly antagonistic.The book concludes by giving space to the study’s participants to themselves share what they want college faculty, staff, and students to know about their lived experiences. Two appendices respectively provide a glossary of vocabulary and terms to address commonly asked questions, and a description of the study design, offered as guide for others considering working alongside marginalized population in a manner that foregrounds ethics, care, and reciprocity.

"An increased public awareness about trans* individuals (trans* is an inclusive term for anyone along the gender non-conforming identity spectrum) has been accompanied by a growing body of published research into what might be called "the neglected T" of the conveniently lumped-together-as-singular 'LGBT community.' The author, a faculty associate in the Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Northern Illinois University, offers this well-written, revealing ethnographic study of nine trans* college students and sheds light on an area of gender identity that has long needed attention, especially in the wake of an upsurge in bias crimes and a concerted effort to thwart the rights of trans* people. (It's not just about the bathroom!) The book gives voice to the students within a broad understanding of sexuality and identity that people have tended to look at from a binary perspective (gay/straight, male/female). Such an oversimplification ignores the lives of those who are most directly affected. Because the book specifically considers how trans* individuals function within a college setting, it is especially recommended as a must-read resource for higher education administrators, faculty, and those providing support services. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through practitioners."--H. M. Miller, Mercy College "CHOICE" (1/1/2017 12:00:00 AM), "Dr. Z Nicolazzo's first book, Trans* in College is a beautifully written, rigorous, and masterful insight into the lives of nine trans* collegians at City University [a pseudonym] and how postsecondary educators can do better to support the education, resilience practices, and life chances for trans* collegians. Through the use of critical theoretical frameworks and methodologies that begin from the experiences and needs of the participants, Nicolazzo also demonstrates new possibilities for both the doing and reporting of research in higher education. As a scholar, I look forward to sharing this book with future graduate students as an example of how we can proliferate possibilities through and for scholarship. As a trans* parent of a trans* child, I am unspeakably grateful to the nine trans* collegians who have collaborated with Nicolazzo to create together this beautiful reflection of us."--Dafina-Lazarus Stewart, Ph.D., Higher Education and Student Affairs "Bowling Green State University" (5/1/2016 12:00:00 AM), "There has never been a more important time for a book like this one that helps readers know that trans* college students are not only possible, but they face the seemingly impossible task of speaking their stories and, in the tradition of minoritized peoples, writing themselves into existence.As is so clear throughout this book, trans* students are not impossible people in higher education. For centuries higher education has constructed itself to be an impossible place for trans* people to be themselves, to be safe, to be seen. We with power in higher education (e.g., tenured and tenure-stream faculty, administrators, majoritized students) have allowed it to be so, and benefitted from it. We can change it. We can read the stories represented in this book and we can make higher education live up to its best image of itself as an institution that provides opportunity. It's time we see, and let them be seen on their terms, not ours."--From the Foreword by Kristen Renn, "A timely and persuasive contribution to the literature on communities on the margins of higher education, Nicolazzo offers deep insight into the multiplicity of intersectional and systemic barriers faced by trans* collegians. But this book goes far past the expected story of trans* suffering to powerfully center trans* resilience and voice. The trans* students at the heart of this work demand better from all of us. A must read for all concerned with true inclusion and change in the academy. For every higher education administrator and change agent, this book offers a clarion call to consider how the collegiate environment continues to be shaped without trans* students in mind."--Sumun L. Pendakur, Associate Dean for Institutional Diversity "Harvey Mudd College" (8/1/2016 12:00:00 AM)

Z Nicolazzo is an assistant professor in the Adult and Higher Education program and a faculty associate in the Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, both at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb. Z’s research agenda is focused on mapping gender across college contexts, with particular attention to trans* collegians, as well as the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and disability. Prior to becoming a faculty member, Z worked as a full-time student affairs professional experience in the functional areas of residence life, sexual violence prevention, and fraternity and sorority life.