College Founded in 1892 Offers Dorm for Transgender Students

College dorm life is interesting — it introduces burgeoning adults to people of all types. But some students would prefer not to be among those who are different. And at a school on the East Coast, some won’t have to be.

At New York’s Ithaca College, a specialized housing provision has been made. Established in 1892, the institution is keeping up with the times. Hence, its “Open Pages” residential community.

If you’re something other than “cisgender,” you’ll be right at home at the 20-bed facility.

From Ithaca.edu:

Open Pages is a transgender and nonbinary RLC (Residence Learning Community). The goal of Open Pages is to provide an inclusive space for non-cis identifying students and to create a supportive community on campus comprised of students that have a shared experience.

Ithaca also has a process by which those identifying as the opposite of their sex — or as cake gender, bird gender, or any other neogender — may be placed into a living situation:

This community does not replace the Transgender and Nonbinary Housing Accommodation process, however, it provides an attractive option for non-cisgender residents who wish to participate in this community.

Open Pages has “learning goals”:

LEARNING GOALS:

Build a supportive and meaningful transgender community with peers, peer leaders, and faculty

Create opportunities for students to discuss identity, privilege, and oppression as it relates to gender

Support students and help prepare students for academic success

Located in the West Tower, Open Pages boasts a “floor lounge” and single-use restrooms. Additionally, it sits near the school’s “LGBTQ+ Office in (the) Towers Concours.”

Students hoping to hail where no cisgender trods may apply via the Housing Portal.

Ithaca certainly isn’t the only college to offer laser-focused living.

Cases in point:

NYU Student Group Petitions for Black-Only Housing So They ‘Can Feel Included’

Another University Commissions Race-Specific Housing

Spaces are getting safer and more welcoming all the time:

University Students Demand More LGBT Support — Counseling, Safe Spaces and a ‘Relaxation Room’ Aren’t Enough

Christian University’s Residence Hall Gets ‘We’re Here! We’re Queer!’ LGBT Mural

As the country’s division grows and we go to our respective corners, college — it seems — becomes quite the opposite of what it long was. Previously, the secondary education experience introduced young people to new ideas. These days, that idea appears problematic. Many of America’s future leaders prefer to remain in familiar realms. Will growth, then, occur? It doesn’t seem as likely. Then again, transgender individuals have grown up in a cisgender world. Maybe Ithaca’s 20-bed breakthrough is their respite from heteronormativity and other traditional ills.

What will happen when they get out in the job world? By then, for all we know, select businesses will be segregated by race and identity, too. Call it a national direction.

In the corporate office of the future, maybe even the birds will have their own wing:

In the Atmosphere of Identity, the Sky's the Limit: Swoon to the Sweet Song of 'Bird Gender'https://t.co/R0tcmxbbMe

— Alex Parker (@alexparker1984) July 1, 2022