IC News

It’s been a whirlwind first year for Crissi Dalfonzo (she/her), who joined Ithaca College in September of 2023 as Director of the Center for LGBT Education, Outreach, and Services. Among the significant steps taken by the Center in Dalfonzo’s inaugural year was the appointment of Lee Tyson (they/them) as IC’s second Pride Fellow, a two-year paid fellowship position—among the first of its kind in the nation—made available to recent graduates and young professionals looking to gain access and insights into the fields of LGBTQ+ campus resource professionals, higher education, and student affairs. 

Dalfonzo and Tyson recently collaborated with students to create the campus’s Gender Affirming Closet and this fall launched the Binders and More (BAM!) program that provides students with one free gender-affirming undergarment each academic year, as well as assistance with selection, fitting, and safety.

For Tyson, who holds a PhD in Musicology and a graduate minor in LGBT Studies from Cornell, the fellowship offered an opportunity to return to Ithaca on a new career trajectory to serve the LGBTQ+ community.

Dalfonzo and Tyson are quick to credit the foundational leadership of Luca Maurer (he/him), Dalfonzo’s predecessor at the Center and now IC’s Executive Director of Student Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Maurer was instrumental as one of the leaders who spearheaded—and ensured Ithaca College’s participation in—the first International Pronouns Day in 2018. When Dalfonzo arrived last year, IC already enjoyed national recognition as one of the most welcoming campuses for LGTBQ+ students.

“I don’t have to fight for policy the way I might at other campuses or institutions,” says Dalfonzo. “IC has such a welcoming space and such an inclusive campus that even if I’m advocating for a policy or procedure change, I’m never fighting anyone or pushing to get someone on my side. We’re just improving systems. Perhaps the naming automation in this software system isn’t exactly what our students need. How do we all work together to get it there? … No one on our campus is ever saying we don’t want that.”

Tyson echoes Dalfonzo’s assessment: “Sometimes it just takes a catalyst to get the ball rolling and keep it rolling.”

Dalfonzo emphasizes that while IC’s approach might be staff-led, it is student-centered. “What students need can shift over time,” she says. “We want to hear what they need from us.”

That approach pays off, according to Maddy Kim ’26 (she/her), who says that arriving at IC “was one of the first times I met people who were comfortable expressing themselves however they wanted, and it allowed me to grow into a person who was able to do the same. I'm grateful to all of the programs at IC that work to support its LGBTQ+ students."

The Gender Affirming Closet’s newest program, Binders and More (BAM!), offers students one free gender-affirming undergarment, including chest binders and binding tape, each academic year. The Center plans to add tucking underwear soon.

BAM! came about when students browsing the Gender Affirming Closet requested undergarments like chest binders. Given that these items require a specific fit, the Closet could rarely meet this demand even when the garments were in inventory.

“It can be a lot for students to spend $30 or $50 on something they’re not sure is going to work out,” says Tyson. “When it comes to gender-affirming undergarments, because bodies are so specific and dynamic, you’re not always necessarily going to get the perfect fit right off the bat. That’s part of the impetus for the program.”

Students interested in taking advantage of BAM! as a resource can visit the Closet and scan a QR code or sign up online to submit a request. This initiates a consultation session so the Center can help students identify their needs, customizing a selection and fitting process based on where they are in their respective journeys.

The Center also informs students about the safe use of gender-affirming undergarments. Dalfonzo and Tyson stress that while they do not have medical expertise and do not provide medical advice, safe binding and tucking practices are not always common knowledge provided by medical practitioners. The Center offers information that supplements more typical medical resources and counters misinformation circulating in online forums and on social media. 

Dalfonzo and Tyson hope the services the Center provides for trans and nonbinary students—and the entire LGBTQ+ community—also foster visibility across the greater campus community and awareness that these initiatives positively impact people’s daily experiences and mental and physical wellbeing.

“Going beyond International Pronouns Day,” says Tyson, “means being part of the community with us.” This goes above and beyond traditional “allyship,” a word that now suffers from overuse and can connote passivity or lukewarm tolerance from the sidelines. Tyson prefers terms like “co-conspirator” or “accomplice,” which invite active partnership.

“Yes,” Tyson says, “we want folks to be allies, but we want you to know that you can work with us, that everybody on this campus is in community with each other. How can we support each other in real, material ways?”