T-REx builds connection through communities

For many first-year students, finding a sense of belonging is one of the biggest parts of transitioning to college. At Michigan State University, living-learning communities help students build connections through shared experiences. For undergraduate students who are interested in living in a community that centers topics around LGBT history and inclusion, especially celebrating transgender and gender diverse experiences, the Transgender Residential and Educational Experience, or T-REx, offers a community designed to do just that.

T-REx is more than a residence hall community. Through educational programming, leadership opportunities and intentional community-building, the living-learning community helps students build relationships, develop confidence and find support throughout their college experience.

T-REx, now approaching its third year, originally grew through student advocacy.

A living-learning community meeting student needs

Members of TransAction, MSU’s transgender student organization, worked alongside the Division of Residential and Hospitality Services, the Office of Residence Education and Housing Services and the Gender and Sexuality Campus Center, or GSCC, to identify a need beyond gender-inclusive housing on campus. While gender-inclusive housing allows students to live with roommates regardless of gender, beyond that, students wanted a community intentionally designed to foster belonging.

Those conversations led to the creation of both T-REx and the GSCC coordinator of transgender student support position.

“When I got here, I got to create all of it from the ground up,” Coordinator of Transgender Student Support Em Wolfe shares. “The mission wasn’t created, the learning objectives weren’t created, and the template for how the program exists wasn’t created.”

With input from staff, students and faculty across the university, Wolfe developed the program’s curriculum, mission and learning objectives around a central goal: creating an educational community where all students, including transgender and gender-expansive students, can connect with one another while developing skills that extend beyond the residence hall.

“T-REx is focused on creating a sense of connection on that floor,” Wolfe says. "We’re focused on creating community versus just a place where people live.”

That emphasis is what distinguishes T-REx from gender-inclusive housing.

“Gender-inclusive housing is simply regular housing, except the gender variable no longer exists,” Wolfe explains.

The T-REx program combines residential life with weekly educational programming centered on community building, identity development, cultural competency and personal growth. Throughout the year, residents participate in discussions, crafts, celebrations, goal-setting activities, therapy dog visits and other programs designed to strengthen relationships and create a welcoming environment.

The numbers reflect that engagement.

Signs of success

During the 2025–26 academic year, more than 50 students participated in T-REx. The community hosted 32 programs that drew 448 total attendees, with an average of 13 students attending each event. Eleven students attended at least half of the programs offered throughout the year.

Some of the community's biggest successes happened outside the residence hall.

In September, students visited the Salus Center in Lansing to meet transgender community elders, learn about local resources and hear firsthand about life beyond college. Wolfe says students left the experience feeling hopeful after seeing transgender adults thriving in their communities.

Later in the year, students traveled to Tender Heart Gardens, a queer and transgender urban garden collective in Lansing. There, they worked alongside community members, learned about building connections beyond campus and explored how community can continue long after graduation. One student later returned to volunteer with the organization independently.

The impact of the program extends beyond attendance.

End-of-year survey data found that students reported a stronger sense of belonging because of T-REx. Program participants rated their sense of belonging at 84%. Additionally, 95% of respondents said they were glad they chose to live in T-REx, and students reported growth in four of the program’s five learning objectives, including community building, cultural competency, personal development and visibility.

‘I always felt respected’

For many residents, the most meaningful outcomes could not be measured by numbers alone.

“I loved living in this community because I always felt respected and able to celebrate who I am instead of hiding it,” one student responded in an end-of-year survey. “I also learned to love my queerness completely.”

Another student described the experience as transformative. “Living here has meant a notable factor of anxiety regarding the college experience has disappeared. The most positive impact was gaining so many friends who I never had to explain my identity to.”

Wolfe says creating opportunities for students to connect with one another remains at the center of the program.

“This campus is huge. Having spaces where students can build relationships with people who live around them and understand their experiences helps create a real sense of belonging.”

As T-REx continues to grow as a living-learning community, the GSCC plans to expand educational programming while strengthening opportunities for students to build connections with one another and the broader LGBTQIA+ community. The goal remains the same as when students first advocated for the program: creating a place where all Spartans, especially transgender and gender-expansive Spartans, can find community, support and a place to belong.