Accepting Social Change

Colorful event brings diversity to Tri-College and Fargo-Moorhead communities

Dragons have long been advocates for social change. Mirroring nationwide movements, MSUM has proven throughout the years to be at the forefront of acceptance and change.

In the 1960s, Project E-Quality was implemented to recruit minority students and increase racial diversity on campus.

Women’s voices were heard in the 1970s and 1980s, when curfews for female students were abolished and co-ed residence halls were opened.

The new millennium brought the LGBTQ community to the limelight, and with it the promise of a welcoming embrace on campus and in the Fargo-Moorhead community—especially through one colorful event.

Personal Empowerment

Mitch Johnson ’10 (mass communications) and ’13 (counseling and student affairs) recognizes the importance of embracing all forms of diversity. As assistant director of First Year Programs at MSUM, his goal is to show new students MSUM is a welcoming, caring place for all.

After attending a conference as a graduate student, he proposed holding a drag show on campus in 2012. The idea caught on quickly and was achieved with remarkable success. The Comstock Memorial Union’s Underground burst at the seams with performers and an enthusiastic audience left wanting more. An annual event was born.

Each year MSUM’s drag show rises to even greater success, and is highly anticipated within the Tri-College and Fargo-Moorhead communities. Now held in the Comstock Memorial Union Ballroom, attendance hovers around 500.

“In the beginning it was way more controversial,” Johnson said. “But that was five years ago. I think as a campus we’ve grown, as a community we’ve grown, and as a society we’ve grown to make things a lot more comfortable and welcoming to all populations.”

Alumni involvement is a large part of the positive reception and progress made through the annual drag show. Kelly Coxsyn ’06 (mass communications) is a bold, sassy and relatable personality on stage. A fabulous drag queen in the Fargo-Moorhead community, she’s hosted the annual Tri-College drag show since its start and identifies the monumental effect participation can have on students.

“Drag has always been about embracing diversity and pushing the boundaries on gender and social norms,” she said. “I think it’s great that MSUM and the tri-colleges have shows like this one. It’s cool that students get the opportunity to broaden their horizons and be exposed to many different experiences. I think that will help prepare them for life after college just as much as their education will.” 

“It’s empowering for students,” said Olivia Matthews, coordinator of multicultural affairs in MSUM’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion. “It helps them realize it’s OK to be yourself, whether that’s a student who’s performing drag for the first time and getting cheered on by their friends and complete strangers, or a student who’s sitting in the crowd looking at their peer doing that.”

Ande Sailer ’13 (art), who performed in MSUM’s drag show as a student, agrees MSUM fosters an inclusive environment both in and outside of the classroom. He says an LGBTQ issues course taught by professor Deb White during his sophomore year gave him crucial confidence.

“I had just come out as gay to my friends at MSUM and that class was so educational and empowering,” Sailer said. “It was probably thanks to that class that I feel comfortable enough to do things like drag and burlesque.”

‘Unapologetically You’

It’s an extensive—and expensive—process to host and perform in a drag show. MSUM leaves hosting and professional recruiting duties to Coxsyn, while student organizations SPECTRUM and Dragon Entertainment Group work to enlist student performers, and music industry majors run the sound system during the show.

“It’s a great collaboration we have with everyone that works so well,” Johnson said. “One of the things I love about it is the connections our students have made, who really want to do drag or want to get involved and spread their wings out into the community.”

Unwitting audience members may assume a show is all glitz and glamour, but Coxsyn says preparation for each show is surprisingly exhausting. It may take weeks to perfect a detailed performance piece, and beauty prep can take between two and three hours alone.

“I think people might have the perception that behind the scenes is a glamorous Gatsby-like world filled with feathers and sequins. But in reality, we’re probably crammed in a storage room fighting over one mirror with all our stuff dumped out on a folding table,” she said.

Johnson says this often-overlooked reality is disheartening for some students who may initially be interested in performing during the campus show.

“You have to find the costumes, the makeup, the wigs—all of that different stuff,” Johnson said. “In addition you have to know all the lyrics to a song and perform it. 

“It’s intimidating knowing there are going to be 400 to 500 people watching you perform this routine in drag. [Students] get excited and are interested, but when they actually think about it and start digging deeper it’s a little bit more difficult.”

However, Coxsyn advises novice performers to keep an open mind.

“I’ve seen so many performers who think there’s a right and wrong way to drag. There isn’t,” Coxsyn said. “So be true to yourself and create a character that’s unapologetically you.” 

And as the LGBTQ movement continues to gain momentum on a national level, Johnson says it’s more imperative than ever that MSUM keeps moving forward with its drag show tradition.

“It’s really important for us to show that we are a welcoming, caring, open community and that we accept everyone. We want you to be who you are,” Johnson said. “We really do value diversity on our campus. [Drag shows are] a great way to show that not only to our students, but to our community.”

This story was first published in Moorhead Magazine, Spring 2017.