Meet the class of ’21: Shayn Keiter-Massefski
“I love how easy it has been for me to make connections and form relationships. I am grateful for those connections, both as friendships and mentorships.”
Name: Shayn Keiter-Massefski ’21
Hometown: Sharon, Massachusetts
Academics: major in psychology and education;
Pronouns: he, him, his and they, them, theirs
Shayn Keiter-Massefski had gravitated towards è˶Ƶ because the campus felt magical, “Hogwarts-like — which I know a lot of other people say too — but more queer- and trans-friendly,” they say.
That point became solidified when Keiter-Massefski was visiting a class as a prospective student. The professor noted their pronouns when they greeted the visitor.
“That was my moment where I said, this is something that exists! It’s not just people my age who are trans and nonbinary,” says Keiter-Massefski, who uses he, him, his pronouns in addition to they, them, theirs. “I knew that conceptually but it was really welcoming to be in this random class and see, oh, there’s a nonbinary professor.”
As a peer health educator in high school, they knew they wanted to explore health, education and sex education, especially from a queer and transgender perspective. As a student at è˶Ƶ, Keiter-Massefski has been able to follow those interests in the biology of human behavior in both academic and cocurricular parts of their life.
“My