OPINION: Should We Cancel Queally?
Editor's Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not reflect those of The Collegian. This article contains expletive language.
Use the fields below to perform an advanced search of The Collegian's archives. This will return articles, images, and multimedia relevant to your query. You can also try a Basic search
10 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
Editor's Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not reflect those of The Collegian. This article contains expletive language.
Editor's Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not reflect those of The Collegian.
Editor's Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not reflect those of The Collegian.
Editor's Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not reflect those of The Collegian.
Promoting freedom of expression at the University of Richmond is now at the top of the list of priorities for the current university leadership. Since as early as 2017, University President Ronald A. Crutcher has promoted a personal campaign on the issue.
I’m happy to see the University of Richmond celebrating Womxn’s History Month with a long list of events that honor the lives, contributions and legacies of cisgender women, as well as transgender and non-binary people, in the university’s past and present. (You can see the full list of events on Westhampton College’s website).
The University of Richmond – at its foundation and in its everyday practices – elevates the status of white heterosexual cisgender men at the expense of everyone else.
In the 2019 edition of The Princeton Review (The Best 384 Colleges: 2019 Edition), the University of Richmond maintained its reputation as one of the top-rated universities in the nation. UR ranked among the top 20 schools for dining options, health services, library facilities, study abroad programs and popularity of Greek life. It ranked among the top 10 schools for athletic facilities and quality of life among students and for having a beautiful campus. The university ranked among the top five schools for career services, classroom experience and internships, and it was ranked the No. 3 best-run college in the country. Incredible!
Unfortunately, I cannot bring myself to write a love letter to transgender and non-binary identified students at UR, as I recently did for students of color. Don’t get me wrong – I would much rather write that op-ed than this one. The difference here is not that I don’t care about the success, well-being, visibility, and future of trans and non-binary students – because I certainly do. Rather, I cannot speak with the same kind of experience and wisdom about being trans/non-binary as I can about race and racism. I can’t effectively love the beauty, creativity, brilliance, kindness, and bravery of you – my fellow trans and non-binary folk – because I’m still wrestling with loving myself.
“Dr. Grollman, this is the worst chapter of my life,” a Black woman student revealed to me in my office two years ago. Her comment was heartbreaking, especially coming from an individual who has lived but two decades and was on her way to finishing her degree at this world-class university. I refrained from trivializing her comments, avoiding some flippant response like college supposedly being a time of fun and self-exploration as though she had chosen, instead, to be miserable. Rather, I told her that I believed her, as I would when anyone has revealed that they have suffered from violence (in her case, the intersections among racism, sexism and classism). I pointed out resources that were available to her to help her survive and, ideally, thrive on campus. And, I asked that she consider finding ways to leave the campus in better shape than when she arrived, for I do not want to hear cohort after cohort of Black University of Richmond students reveal their misery to me.