Early name changes possible in Bayreuth

The University of Bayreuth values diversity and, in fact, sees it as an enrichment. Indeed, the University's goals include gender equality. In one respect, the University of Bayreuth is much further ahead in this regard than many other universities, i.e. in its treatment of "Deadnames".

A "Deadname" refers to a person's old name which is no longer used. Especially trans people often disassociate themselves from their birth name and subsequently wish to use their new name in the university context.

"We don't actually talk about deadnames," explains Miriam Bauch, Head of the Equal Opportunities Office at the University of Bayreuth. "In this context, we talk about early name changes."

Changing one's name in the course of one’s studies or an academic career is not unusual. While a name change after marriage is easy, it is not so easy for trans people - at least currently. "We hope that the new government will facilitate the procedure for this group of people as promised," Bauch emphasises. In order to facilitate the participation of trans and inter students in the academic context and in everyday university life, it is now possible to change one’s name and/or gender at the University of Bayreuth in advance of any legal change of first name and civil status. And it's quite easy to do: a so-called supplementary identity card from the German Society for Transidentity and Intersexuality (dgti) need only be presented to the Student Administration Office, together with the signed application form. "We want the hurdles to be as low as possible," says Miriam Bauch.

In practical terms, this means that even if there are still legal barriers, e-mail addresses and other university accounts can be assigned the new name. The only exception is that one’s birth name must appear on one’s degree certificate. Changing this has not been doable to date. However, once one’s change of first name and civil status becomes legally binding, the certificate can be reissued with one’s new name.

The fact that the University of Bayreuth is one of the first in Bavaria to make an early name change possible is, in part, thanks to the efforts of the Queer Working Group. Students of the working group had campaigned together with the Student Parliament for all legal possibilities to be exhausted. After all, "there are different interpretations of the law," says Bauch.