Only 46 percent of trans students agree with the statement “I feel like I belong at Harvard,” according to a 2019 University-wide survey, the lowest of every demographic subgroup surveyed.
These statistics are sobering, but not surprising — at least not to trans students like myself.
This first became clear to me during Visitas last spring. Like my fellow admits, I arrived on campus bright-eyed and eager to learn about the opportunities that awaited me. But beyond typical curiosity about coursework and extracurriculars, I was also brimming with questions about what it would mean for me to be trans on campus.
Unfortunately, the answers I received were grim. I interacted with very few trans students, and the ones I did meet told stories rife with challenges and frustrations. Though most had found a place here, carving out space on campus where they belonged, it hadn’t been easy….
