A mother of a female student at Utah State University has spoken to Campus Reform about her concerns regarding a biological male moving into her daughter’s dormitory on campus. The male in question–who “identifies” as a woman–serves as a Resident Assistant. The mother expressed concerns and eventually succeeded in moving her daughter to another dormitory–but still expressed outrage over what happened, and called on other parents to defend their daughters when facing similar situations.
Cheryl Smalley Saltzman initially expressed her worries in a Jan. 3 Facebook post: “A biological male (trans with she/her pronouns) just moved into my daughter’s dorm (Merrill hall) on Utah State university’s campus….. it is a girls only dorm. . . . You can move into the dorm with the gender that you identify, I did read that last night in the contract. However the contempt toward anyone uncomfortable with it, is genuinely and deeply enraging.”
She later updated the post, saying: “they immediately gave her two apartment options and she chose one. She will move tomorrow….We told the girl that was going to be her roommate and move in tomorrow, about the situation so she wasn’t [blindsided]. . . . and I’m still ticked that she has to move because of this.”
Saltzman told Campus Reform how her daughter initially expressed panic at the idea, texting her: “I think a guy pretending to be a woman moved into my apartment.” Saltzman related how her daughter “worried about [it] all of Christmas break.”
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The man moving into the female dormitory also serves as the Resident Assistant.
Saltzman related how she raised concerns with a university administrator who acted very “sharply” with her and insisted that she would not “talk to parents” regarding the issue, but only to “the contract holder.”
The concerned mother told Campus Reform that the university allowed her daughter to change living arrangements, though her daughter warned the fellow student who was initially meant to be her roommate about the presence of a man in the dormitory. The other female student promptly “changed apartments as well.”
Saltzman initially thought Utah State University would be a “safer choice” that was “more conservative” and that had “higher values and cared about their students.” She added, however, that “that trust has absolutely been violated.”
“I can’t even believe how little they care about the safety and protection and privacy of these girls. It is alarming,” she continued.
Saltzman also condemned the university’s handling of the situation, saying that no school official “apologized or showed any concern whatsoever.”
Utah State University’s Rules & Policies state that students like Saltzman’s daughter who live in on-campus housing are required to complete a Roommate Agreement Worksheet with their Resident Assistant that “sets forth expectations regarding how roommates will share their living space.”
The presence of a male resident assistant–who is meant to help with certain conflict resolution incidents–made Saltzman worry over placing such a figure in a position of authority over her daughter.
“It has been confirmed that [the male Resident Assistant] has access to all of their dorm room[s] . . . so if [he] does conflict resolution as part of that position . . . this is supposed to be a person that has authority over these girls, they’re supposed to be coming to this person.”
Saltzman claimed that neither her daughter nor other female students were “asked for consent” to share living space with a man.
“There’s zero consideration for the comfort of and privacy of the girls. It’s really shocking. It’s so disappointing,” she added.
She also clarified the danger of attempting to resolve such a difficult situation, saying that women who complain about being forced to live with a man could be labeled as “bigots.”
Saltzman also urged parents who experience similar situations to “Just speak up, speak out, stand up . . . we can’t be quiet, and it is scary, and people say terrible things, but I am telling you 99.9% of people do not want [the sort of situation her daughter faced].”
Saltzman said that “clearly the line has been crossed and we cannot allow for that to happen because it really just [sends] a terrible message and it puts girls at such risk, and it is teaching our girls as well that they don’t matter. But that a man being comfortable, a man being validated as identifying as a girl, is more important than them.”
A Utah State University spokesperson told Campus Reform: “Merril Hall is a co-ed residence hall with apartment-style living where each apartment has its own private bathroom. Students choose their apartments according to the gender they report in their housing application. USU Student Housing and Residence Life strive to create a welcoming environment where all students can feel comfortable so they can focus on succeeding in their studies.”
The spokesperson added: “USU provides a range of housing options to meet the needs of our students. We offer gender neutral housing, which some students prefer and opt-in to voluntarily. We are also sensitive to residents’ concerns about potential room assignments and routinely adjust housing assignments to provide welcoming and comfortable housing for all student residents.”
This article was originally published at campusreform.org
