Former Student, LGBTQ Leader Reflects on UTD Experience
June 15, 2022
For Ryan Short BA’22, being a leader often simply means showing up. The University of Texas at Dallas graduate comes across as unassuming, but that doesn’t mean the 22-year-old isn’t prepared to assume the leader’s role. Short has stepped up before.
“I think that there’s this perception that leadership is always the public face, but I think a big part of leadership is just showing up,” Short said. “That’s something that’s not very public.”
Short also believes that effective leadership comes from being genuine and that there is strength in being open about who you are. Short identifies as nonbinary, which is an individual who doesn’t conform to traditional ideas of masculinity and femininity, and said their time serving as president of UT Dallas Student Government was an informative time in a young life where the importance of relationships became so apparent.
“I think there’s a real beauty in that sense of community at UT Dallas,” Short said. “And I think that the pandemic really taught us the importance of community.”
Short was elected president as a senior in 2022, serving during a time of uncertainty and anxiety as students returned to classrooms in the aftermath of COVID-19. At the time, many students reported feelings of isolation and being disconnected from the campus community following nearly two years of remote classes and postponed face-to-face activities. Short and running mate, Imaan Razak Macchiwalla, campaigned to help students reconnect with their community and to give voice to underrepresented students.
This wasn’t the first time Short worked to give students a voice. In fact, their activism and leadership abilities first appeared at Heritage High School in Frisco where the high school senior organized student walkouts across the Frisco Independent School District to raise awareness of school gun violence following the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed. Short became a co-founder of the Frisco Student Activist Union to empower students in the wake of the violence to advocate for gun violence prevention. The group is still active today.
“I just felt like someone needed to step up. Someone needed to say something, and I guess that meant me,” Short said. “So, students from all the Frisco high schools met in a friend’s living room and that’s what got it started – just showing up in that room.”
Along with the walkout, Short and fellow student activists met with school administrators and school board members to emphasize how much gun violence as impacted the lives of students not only in Florida but also in North Texas. That experience planted a seed for Short that began to change the direction of their life, a course that was altered completely at the UTD.
Like their father, Robert Short MBA’97, Short enrolled at UT Dallas, beginning studies as a biochemistry major. But by the second semester, they felt called to follow a new passion fueled by experiences both in high school and at the University and shifted to majoring in political science.
“I realized there’s a lot going on in my life, and I was experiencing new things and meeting people from all over with different experiences, ethnicities and backgrounds,” Short said. “I think it made me realize how important it was for me to do things that I was passionate about.”
Short also began to realize that identity was not a barrier to being a student leader and that being true to oneself was a source of strength and character. Inspired by other members of the LGBTQ community on the University campus, Short embraced and felt empowered by identifying as nonbinary.
“A big part of my personal journey throughout college has been learning that I don’t have to compromise or self-censor who I am,” Short said.
In fact, Short learned from others that being your genuine self can inspire others to do the same. While student government president, a UT Dallas student told Short that it meant so much to watch Short on campus and serving as president while not compromising who they were.
“That has meant a lot to me,” Short said. “You might not realize how much it makes a difference in someone’s life, but that reminded me of the idea that we’re built on the shoulders of those who came before us.”