My name is Maxwell Reed, a transgender undergraduate student at UTD. In February, I called to The Retrograde’s attention the quiet discontinuation of mixed gender housing among incoming students. I participated in an interview outlining how alienating this is for the university’s trans students, how this puts them in harm’s way. In that interview, I noted that I had been considering transferring to another university, considering the policy a spit in the face to my community.
However, in the immediate followup to that article, I had initially postponed that idea, choosing to enroll in another year. This was before March and April of 2026, where there were a reported five murders of transgender students on college campuses across the United States. While this sowed seeds of doubt in the safety of my campus, I was still almost willing to stay. The university would at least feign support, I figured, and the National Merit scholarship was incredibly difficult to give up on.
When the summer came, I started considering withdrawal much more seriously. The more and more danger my community has been put in, especially in southern states, combined with personal mental health issues, encouraged me to start looking even further into my home state’s public university. I had all but decided to withdraw from UTD by the beginning of June. My decision has only been confirmed with the university’s removal of the pride wall in SSA. Despite the removal of the Galerstein Gender Center, I remained faithful. Despite the removal of mixed gender housing, I remained faithful. I remained faithful that UTD would at least have the courage to look me and my community in the eye and acknowledge us, acknowledge that we are here.
But the removal of the pride wall is the final nail in the coffin, the final piece of evidence that UTD does not care about its students. In the face of hate crime after hate crime, piece of legislation after piece of legislation, the removal has one simple message: LGBTQ+ students do not belong at UTD. I am not going to ignore that message. I accept it, I recognize that I am unwelcome, and I choose to leave.
I urge the university to consider what its actions show to its student body. I urge the university to consider the ways it is betraying its student body. Whatever it chooses to do, however, I will not be there to witness it.
Thank you,
Maxwell Reed, BA. Animation & Games 2029