Beginning college is a tough transition for any student, made doubly hard for those simultaneously going through a gender identity crisis, a university analyst said yesterday.

Sue Rankin, senior diversity planning analyst in the office of the vice provost for educational equity, spoke energetically yesterday to about 20 people in Pattee Library's Foster Auditorium about her recent survey on transgender individuals and how it is pertinent to a college community.

The online survey was voluntary for the 3,474 who participated and classify themselves as transgender. Rankin and her colleague, Brett Genny Beemyn, compiled their results from the survey.

The number of volunteers was "a whole heck of a lot more people than we expected," Rankin said. "This is the largest study of trans-people that we know of anywhere that has been done, and that is pretty cool."

In the survey, gender identity questions were addressed, and most of the people surveyed said they felt something was wrong before age 19.

"Students coming to our university have already decided that they are different," Rankin said. "If you are [gender] transitioning in college, it's a really hard place to be already."

Rankin questioned the need for gender questions to be asked, like "probably the scariest part of the [gender] transitioning process -- 'Which bathroom do I use?' "

She said she is pushing for gender-neutral restrooms and that there are already some on campus.

"Even on driver's licenses, you have to say 'male' or 'female.' Why?" she asked.

After focusing on more rhetorical gender-related questions, she elaborated on the positive opportunities Penn State offers for those who classify themselves as transgender.

"I think Penn State recognizes that there are transgender issues on campus and is trying to address them," she said. "Our current insurance policy pays for undergraduates and graduates to have [transitioning] hormones."

Although she said gender transitioning can be a trying time, she encouraged those in need of guidance to go online or to Penn State's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Student Resource Center.

"You are not alone," she said.

Rankin encouraged her audience to respect those who are unsure of their genders and to simply ask them what pronoun they refer to go by. "Ze" is the gender-neutral term for "he" or "she," and "hir" for "him" or "her," she explained.

Rankin is currently writing a book based on the survey results.

"It will be out by Columbia Press hopefully by next fall," she said. She hopes that it will "ask more questions than it's going to answer."