I am a student in recovery. I was a member of the board of directors for The Association of Recovery in Higher Education. I recently stepped down after years of harm from both the national association and my local collegiate recovery community. As a black trans woman, I was ignored when I spoke out about concerns. I was tokenized and used for my marginalized identities. I was harmed by multiple people involved with this organization without any accountability or change. 

A little backstory about my interactions. There was a individual that was involved with this organization. I informed them that he was harmful to me, aggressive, and made me feel unsafe. I was told he’s a nice person and that was just who he was. This individual was allowed to stay in that space because of his financial investments while continuing to cause harm to myself and others. O have been disrespected by being misgendered, silenced, and experienced micro aggressions for speaking up about my concerns with the racism, and transphobic behaviors. Recently the executive director sent me passive aggressive emails after I stated my concerns about a panel that was problematic. A issue that we have discussed a thousand times. This email chain and the passive aggressiveness was the last straw for me. 

I am asking you to stand with me and ask them to hold themselves accountable. That they actively do some anti racism work. That they do work around how to truly support the lgbtqia community. That they share publicly with students and community members the work and changes they are make. That they actually work on making collegiate recovery safe and accessible for marginalized students. 

I want to leave this with you. Students in recovery deserve access to recovery support. BiPOC and LGBTQIA students deserve access to collegiate recovery spaces that aren’t harmful and unsafe.