CMU welcomes back Transcend
As a freshman, Alex Hurt had gone to many events on campus for the LGBTQ community. Yet as someone who identifies as transgender, he still felt out of place.
His experience as a transgender individual was something that was unique to him, along with his LGBTQ identity. Because of this, he wanted a space specifically designated to those facing a similar experience as him.
Teaming up with Harper Walls, Hurt brought back Transcend after it being inactive for almost three years, and is now on a mission to bring representation and opportunities to others in his community.
Transcend is a student organization aimed at giving a safe space for those who identify as transgender, nonbinary, gender non-conforming or those exploring their gender.
Transcend President Hurt is majoring in sociology with hopes of becoming an American Sign Language interpreter after graduation. He said he wanted to start the group back up again to have a space dedicated to those who could understand and empathize with others who faced similar experiences.
Walls, the club vice president, is a senior majoring in public health education. One of her biggest goals after graduation is to create a more inclusive environment in the healthcare system for people that identify as trans. But it goes way past that for her.
“It can’t just be the medical system, it has to be where we’re existing,” Walls said. “Because how we exist and where we exist does directly affect our health. And so that’s kind of my motivation there.”
Both students agreed that the campus seemed to lack representation of its trans community at CMU, so they decided to create their own supportive space.
Shortly before the COVID-19 Pandemic, the group had brought up the possibility of disbanding. At the time, Walls said Transcend was going through many changes, as it moved from a support group to an advocacy group. Walls also said that previous members had felt they were giving and educating the community without receiving the same efforts in accepting and appreciating them.
Once the pandemic hit, there was a mutual agreement amongst the members to disband the group. Since then, efforts to restart Transcend have been slow-going.
In 2021, Walls had talked to Shannon Jolliff, the director of The Office of LGBTQ Services and Gender Equity Programs, about starting Transcend back up, but didn’t have enough people and resources to do so.
It wasn’t until a few months ago, when Hurt went to Jolliff about restarting the group, that he was put in contact with Walls.
Together, they registered the group and held its first official meeting two weeks ago. With its current 15 members, Hurt and Walls have high hopes for the group going forward.
“Truly, I think we’ve really banded together and made a little community for each other, and I think we’ll stick around for a while,” Walls said.
While it has only had two meetings so far, Transcend has already started making future plans.
On Transgender Day of Visibility, March 31, Transcend had a display of transgender flags at the Fabiano Botanical Garden. The Transgender Pride Flag was also flown all day on the flagpole at the CMU seal.
“Not everybody walks by that flagpole … but it was a huge win for us to get that representation,” Walls said.
With the help of Jolliff, Transcend was also granted permission to fly the Pride Inclusivity Flag every day for the month of April on the flagpole near the seal for CMU’s Pride Month.
As part of CMU’s pride month events, Transcend will be hosting a garage sale to raise funds for the group by selling clothes. Most of the clothes for sale are from the members that no longer fit them or their identities.
Hurt said the sale will be a unique, genderless experience to show how shopping can be different. Even with sizing, Hurt said the goal is to make it so that attendees do not have to go to a specific designated section based on their gender or size.
“We’re gonna try and make it a comfortable space where everyone can feel comfortable shopping, no matter what,” Hurt said.
The price range of the items is still being considered at the moment; however, Hurt and Walls said they will try to keep the items within reasonable prices, somewhere between $1 and $5.
The garage sale is open to anyone and will be taking place from 1 to 4 p.m. on April 14 at the Bovee University Center in Maroon Room 218. All funds made from the sale will go toward Transcend so that it may continue to hold events in the future to support its community.
Going forward, Hurt and Walls hope to continue to provide a safe space dedicated to their community, all while educating and supporting others.
Anyone interested in joining or learning more about Transcend and any of its upcoming events may email the group at transcend@groups.cmich.edu.
