After recognizing the student demand for name changes, transgender students at The New School, who have not legally changed their name, can adopt a new first name through The Office of Intercultural Support. Students are required to meet with Alexander Vasquez to discuss the process and timeline for implementing their name change.
Nika Lomazzo, a sophomore in Writing at the New School, wears a gold-plated classic script necklace around her neck that reads NIKA, the name she changed to the first week of the Spring 2016 semester.
“My parents were going to name me Nicola and call me Nico so I wanted to keep some family tradition in my name and new identity,” Lomazzo said, “[so I] changed it from Nico to Nika.”
Lomazzo identifies as a female. She has taken advantage of the school’s name change accommodations and says that the process of changing her name at The New School went smoothly because of how helpful the office was.
“I made an appointment with Alex Vasquez [the assistant director of the office of intercultural support,] and we had a short conversation about why I was changing my name,” Lomazzo said. “I told him I had recently came out as trans and he took care of the rest and even offered to email my professor for me.”
The name change option started this Spring 2016 semester due to a number of students contacting the school in hopes of changing their name with the school, according to Vasquez.
“We recognized a need for this accommodation,” Vasquez said, “and the university responded accordingly. Since the accommodation was implemented, more and more students have learned about it.”
After meeting with Vasquez, the office of intercultural support works with the IT department and Registrar’s Office in order to implement the change.
“We inform the Registrar’s Office and IT of the request so it can be processed,” Vasquez said. “Besides making changes to the email account, Canvas, Starfish student success and NACELink Career success systems, we also reach out to instructors to inform them of the preferred name of the student.”
When it comes to students who would like to change their names because of other reasons such as another name being more suitable, they should meet with Vasquez in order to determine whether it is possible for them to qualify for name change, Vasquez said.
“We will review student internal name change requests on a case-by-case basis,” Vasquez said.
Though Lomazzo has been receiving compliments from New School students about her new appearance, she has still experienced some moments of unwanted comments from male students.
“One guy want as far as to bring up my genitals as a way to invalidate my womanhood,” Lomazzo said. “I eventually called them out enough times that their behavior has changed and I feel comfortable around them, but it was really shocking to encounter that behavior in what I feel is a safe space for students at school.”
Chloe O’Neill, a Fine Arts BFA major who identifies as a trans female, changed her name herself before the option was available at school because it has been something she has wanted to do since she was a child.
“Chloe seemed to fit for me like no other name,” O’Neill said, “So I chose it…It has been something I have wanted to do since I was a kid.”
O’Neill shared her experience with male students at the New School and their reactions to her appearance during class.
“I have had multiple weird and invasive encounters with male students being repulsed by my presence in the classroom,” O’Neill said. “Usually things like this mean cracking jokes about me or sneering from across the room.”
Even though these situations are still prominent, O’Neill expressed her gratitude for the university’s recognition of the importance of name changes for transgender students.
“I thought this was kind of silly and bureaucratic, but then I realized that professor not making offhand comments about my ‘real name’ or something was protective to my safety in the classroom,” said O’Neill. “I was very glad that I did this because I definitely feel like in some classrooms other students take me being misgendered as a joke.”
As a senator for the USS, Lomazzo expressed her desire for more support amongst the transgender community.
“I would like to see the school…[help] us navigate the legal system so that we can easily change our name on our documents,” Lomazzo said.
The Office of Intercultural Support are working towards providing further support for students who have asked for this accommodation. The office has provided contact information for the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and the LGBTQ Community Center on The New School Student Services Blog.
“We are working towards developing a support network,” Vasquez said, “with all the students who have asked for this accommodation in order for them to share their experiences with each other. I plan on meeting with them before the end of the semester.”