Latest news with #GracePearson
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trans student sues University of Kansas after being fired for speaking to media about housing policy
Residents of the Grace Pearson scholarship hall and other students protest Feb. 26, 2025, outside of Strong Hall in support of gender-inclusive housing. (Maya Smith for Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — An interview with a news outlet cost a former University of Kansas resident assistant his job and his home. Now, he's suing the university for violating his free speech rights. The lawsuit filed in federal court Thursday says KU restricted Anthony Alvarez' speech and fired him without cause in retaliation. Alvarez, who is trans, talked to a media outlet on Feb. 26 during a campus protest over the university's decision to end Grace Pearson Scholarship Hall's gender-inclusive living arrangements. Alvarez, a 21-year-old student, expressed his frustration with the elimination of inclusive spaces where students feel safe. While he identified himself as a proctor, akin to a resident assistant, he did not claim to speak in his official capacity as a resident assistant for KU. The university placed Alvarez on probation for failing to refer media inquiries to senior KU staff. Before the window to appeal the probation closed, Alvarez was subsequently fired from his position, and he was forced to rescind an offer to continue as a proctor the next academic year. 'I think it's a bad sign that for infractions as little as this, you could get fired and kicked out and very quickly find yourself in a position where you have to find a place to live,' Alvarez told Kanas Reflector in April. The lawsuit argues Alvarez 'engaged in protected speech by speaking to a member of the media in their capacity as a private citizen on a matter of public concern — specifically by criticizing Defendant KU's policies and practices related to housing policies for LGBTQ+ community members as applied to recent state and federal legislative directives.' Precedent for resident assistants, who are students and employees of a university, fired for speech is largely undeveloped. However, First Amendment challenges, added restrictions and demands for universities and rollbacks of LGBTQ+ rights are becoming commonplace under President Donald Trump's second administration. A vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, Alvarez testified in January against a bill in the Kansas Legislature that bans gender-affirming care for minors and restricts the use of state funds for promoting gender transitioning. The bill made it through the House and Senate, was vetoed by Gov. Laura Kelly and ultimately became law after the Republican-controlled Legislature overrode the veto. Representing Alvarez is Barry Grissom, former U.S. Attorney for Kansas, who argued in the complaint that as a result of KU's actions, Alvarez experienced a 'loss of living quarters, income, reputational damage, emotional distress, and the deprivation of constitutionally protected rights.' Grissom filed suit not only to address the university's retaliation toward Alvarez but also to garner a judgment from the court on whether the policy that led to Alvarez' probation and termination is constitutional, Grissom said in a Thursday news release. 'Terminating a public employee after they speak to the media and criticize that employer's policies is certainly in line with some of the challenges we have seen of late to the First Amendment, one of the bedrock principles of the American legal system,' Grissom said in a statement to Kansas Reflector. He continued: 'Speech that the government does not agree with is exactly the kind which the First Amendment was intended to protect — yet each day, there are seemingly more people affected by policies like the one which cost Mr. Alvarez his job.' The lawsuit names KU; Sarah Waters, executive director of KU housing and resident life; and Emily Chellgren, assistant director of resident life, as defendants. Multiple attempts beginning Friday morning to reach KU for comment for this story were unsuccessful. By Friday afternoon, most staff members had set up out-of-office messages for Memorial Day weekend. KU also did not respond to requests to comment in past coverage of this story. Alvarez is asking for a jury trial in Kansas City, Kansas, and compensation for damages and attorney and case-related expenses.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
University of Kansas students protest the firing of proctor who spoke about housing policy change
University of Kansas students protest April 2, 2025, in response to the elimination of gender-inclusive housing assignments for the fall semester. (Maya Smith for Kansas Reflector) LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas Housing fired scholarship hall proctor Anthony Alvarez after he spoke to the media and refused to intervene in protests against the elimination of gender-inclusive housing. Students and residents of Grace Pearson Scholarship Hall launched a new protest Wednesday in front of Strong Hall to stand in solidarity with Alvarez. Alvarez expressed little regret for participating in actions that led to his termination even though he can no longer live in the hall. He intends to keep protesting KU Housing's decision. 'I can't live in the place where I foster community,' he said. 'I didn't do this for the money. I did this for my community. It is very, very hurtful. But I am thankful for the amount of support I have received.' KU Housing did not respond to email or phone calls seeking comment. Alvarez was put on probation March 13 after a meeting with housing staff. In a letter obtained by Kansas Reflector, Emily Chellgren, KU Housing assistant director, said he violated policy by speaking to news media instead of forwarding the request to his supervisor 'despite knowing job expectations prohibited (him) from doing so.' Kansas Reflector interviewed Alvarez for a March 4 story about students protesting the decision to eliminate gender-inclusive housing. Alvarez was terminated March 14 after staff were made aware via security footage that he helped residents hang a banner outside of Grace Pearson rather than addressing the situation with residents and filing an incident report. His termination letter, also obtained by Kansas Reflector, noted he was already on probation for speaking with a reporter. 'I think it's a bad sign that for infractions as little as this, you could get fired and kicked out and very quickly find yourself in a position where you have to find a place to live,' Alvarez said. 'This makes it so that these undergrad students really feel the necessity to enforce policy that they may consider to be unjust or discriminatory.' According to an article published by the University Daily Kansan, eight residents and proctors of Grace Pearson spoke to the press under anonymity. No other proctors have been put on probation. First Amendment lawyer Max Kautsch said because there's no evidence of other proctors being put on probation for speaking to the press, KU Housing didn't violate Alvarez' free speech rights. But Kautsch said the university should be cautious of how it handles the situation going forward. 'The First Amendment's been implicated, but to the extent there's a violation, the facts right now don't necessarily lend itself to that,' Kautsch said. 'It's the kind of thing if you're the university, you got be conscious of.' The protest Wednesday brought both Grace Pearson residents and other KU students together to protest in front of Strong Hall for nearly five hours. For student Leah Johnson, protecting the Grace Pearson community is key to the trans community at KU. 'As a trans person myself, gender-inclusive assignments are extremely important to me,' Johnson said. 'Removing this is clearly a targeted action against trans communities that I will not stand for.' Along with two protests, residents have taken to using sticky notes on their windows, creating messages like 'GP for GIA' and 'Keep GP Safe.' Banners hung in the hall by residents continue to be taken down by staff, seen in videos posted by residents. 'I'm choosing to protest because I think that it is a terrible decision to restrict gender inclusive assignments and to try to enforce gendered bathrooms,' said Michael Wieber, hall president. 'I think it's downright fascist, the idea of only certain people can use a bathroom, or we need to check your gender.' According to the KU Housing handbook, decorations on windows should 'generally be directed to the interior of the room.' Many residents with sticky notes in their windows were emailed this week by Housing notifying them they would be required to attend university conduct meetings in the next week. Some students plan to continue protests and make their voices heard. Unlike scholarship hall proctors, residents including Wieber do not have restrictions on speaking to the press. 'We're trying to get anything from KU,' Wieber said. 'It's effectively been two months where we've gotten radio silence from KU housing. It's very clear that Grace Pearson doesn't like the messages.'
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
University of Kansas students protest decision to end gender-inclusive housing in scholarship hall
Residents of the Grace Pearson scholarship hall and other students protest Feb. 26, 2025, outside of Strong Hall in support of gender-inclusive housing. (Maya Smith for Kansas Reflector) LAWRENCE — University of Kansas students are grappling with the decision to end gender-inclusive housing assignments at a campus scholarship hall. Grace Pearson residents and other KU students protested last week outside of Strong Hall with signs that read 'We're All Jayhawks' and 'Keep Inclusivity Affordable.' The group also launched a petition against the change in policy, and decorated windows with Post-its and signs that the university requested they remove. KU notified residents of Grace Pearson Hall on Feb. 5 that floors will be segregated by gender in the next school year. That means transgender and nonbinary students who want a gender-inclusive assignment, or GIA, will need to relocate. 'There's stuff going on on campus like this. Usually you can go home and feel better about it or distract yourself. But with this, it's like we're living in this space where it's happening. There is no escape,' said five-year resident Rhoswyn Hicks. 'Seeing a community that really had trans joy within student housing falling apart has been really difficult.' On Monday, students spoke at the Higher Learning Commission accreditation during an open forum for students to voice their concerns. 'The university has a responsibility to respect and care for students regardless of their gender identity,' Hicks said. 'We would be happy to see the other students in this room take up arms with us and help us in our cause.' In the initial email sent to residents, KU Housing said communal bathrooms would become gender-segregated and that gender-inclusive housing assignments would no longer be available. Residents were given two options: either stay and select living on a male or female floor, or request GIA housing elsewhere. Other options include living in the Rainbow Community, which offers suites that are significantly more expensive than scholarship halls. K.K. Amani Hall would have 'some' GIA rooms available, according to KU Housing. Residents were given five days to make the decision. 'It feels like there's no space for me,' said resident Simon Davis. 'It feels as though they don't care that I'm here because I am nonbinary. I don't like being assigned or shoved into a category, which is kind of what I have to deal with. I don't like being categorized as a woman, but I care a lot about GP's community, so I will stay. It sucks though.' On Feb. 13, KU Housing sent a follow-up email to residents to clarify reasons for the changes. According to the email sent by Sarah Waters, executive director of Housing and Residence Life, multi-stalled bathrooms in residential dormitory buildings are required by International Building Code to have separate facilities based on sex. 'We understand the impact this change has on the community,' Waters said in the email. 'We will continue to support our residents in navigating this change to meet their housing needs.' The email goes on to say that residents who observe other residents using the incorrect bathroom or housing assignment should report the issue. Residents were recommended to apply for GIA housing at K.K. Amani Hall, which costs $518 more per academic year. Directors at Grace Pearson and Amani halls did not respond to a request for comment. Resident assistant Anthony Alvarez has lived in Grace Pearson for three years and been an RA for two. He became an RA to be a friend to those throughout the hall. He said he intended not to enforce the changes with his residents to the best of his ability. 'If you were a staff member, you would be looking to enforce that and we don't know what that looks like,' said Alvarez. 'The most they told us would be an incident report and policy. If you get a certain amount of incident reports, you could get kicked out. However, your job as an RA ties you to the building, your housing and your job. If they fire you, you don't have a place to live.' Residents of Grace Pearson plan to continue spreading awareness to fellow students. 'It looks like outreach getting more people to know about what's going on,' Hicks said. 'I guess if housing continues to not respond, likely more protests where we feel we will reach the best audience, or larger audience for this issue.'
