This week is Transgender Awareness Week, which features a busy schedule of events aimed at generating discussion of transgender issues on campus.

The week started with workshops: on allyship and transgender identities.

Wednesday night hosted a panel, “The State of Transgender at Oberlin,” which featured students, representatives from ResLife and the MRC and Meredith Raimondo of the Comparative American Studies Department.

Sophomore Lee Butler, junior Jessica Bedwinek and Sara Banks spoke about their experiences as trans people and allies, especially on the Oberlin campus. They reported many positive experiences with the peer climate on campus, but some stories conveyed their frustration as well, with concerns ranging from the institutional to the interpersonal.

Kate Eubank, the LGBTU, community coordinator for the Multicultural Resource center, talked about the resources that the MRC offers students on trans issues.

Raimondo gave a brief history of the development of transgender studies as an academic field and said that she hopes that, as a specialist in LGBTQ studies, she can play an active role in these issues.

Many panel members discussed how to make Oberlin more friendly to trans students, including training for faculty members, educating incoming students during orientation and generating discussion through workshops and panel discussions.

On Thursday, a film of Leslie Feinberg speaking at Oberlin several years ago was screened in West Lecture Hall on Thursday. The speech dealt with movement making, emphasizing coalition building.

The Athens Boys Choir, a spoken word group from Georgia, will perform in Hallock on Friday. The evening begins with an open mic at 7:30 p.m., followed by the group’s performance at 8:30 p.m. and a Q&A at 9:30 p.m.

Representatives from the Transgender Advocacy Group, which sponsored the events of the week, will have a table set up in Wilder Bowl from 3-6 p.m.

The week ends with an open support group for transgender people and their allies on Sunday at 10 p.m. in Wilder TBA. All are welcome to attend.

All week, an art exhibit has been up in Wilder Lobby and there have been signs demarcating bathrooms as gender neutral across campus.

Students had mixed feelings about the success of the events this week. Though more events were offered this year than in the past, many were not well-attended.

“TAG does a great job with their events,” sophomore Emily Reitz said. “But they need more publicity, and it would be nice if more people outside the queer community attended events. The general Oberlin community should know they are welcome.”

Some students who didn’t attend events said that the bathroom signs got them thinking about issues they wouldn’t have otherwise considered.

T-shirts are for sale all week for $6 with proceeds to help pay for the events this week.