2024 - Meet Maddy Fraser

Elgin Community College (ECC) student and Bartlett, Illinois resident Maddy Fraser, who uses they/them pronouns, found solace in the atmosphere ECC provided them. “I really like the vibe here,” Fraser said. “It’s lovely to be on a campus that’s really open and inviting to trans and LGBTQ students.”  

Fraser is president of the Students Who Are Not Silent (SWANS) club, a position they were elected to lead because of their dedication to the club and their position as the “Parent Friend” in their friend group. One act SWANS recently accomplished that Fraser said they’re incredibly proud of is updating the gender-neutral bathrooms around campus. 

After working with their fellow club members to pinpoint how they can create positive change on campus, they focused in on improving the accessibility of the gender-neutral bathrooms by visiting each bathroom on campus to record and present the changes needed at an ECC faculty meeting. 

“Activism and speaking up for people who don’t have a voice is very important to me,” Fraser said. “I’m openly trans and non-binary, and I didn’t see a lot of that in high school. I think people seeing other people like them is super important for their journey.” 

Human connection and support led Fraser to pursue psychology and social work. “I just find the study so fascinating; how people think, how behavior works, and I love the idea of helping people,” Fraser said.  

For now, Fraser continues on their own journey at ECC while helping others also find their paths. Once they wrap up ECC, Fraser is looking forward to studying psychology at Northern Illinois University. Get to know the passionate, caring Fraser a little better below! 

What’s one thing you do outside of ECC? I work at an Escape Room place. It is so much fun because I like being whimsical and silly, just in my day-to-day life. Adding a little fun to your life is important. I can embrace that at work, where the entire game is pretending. It’s also really interesting as a psych student because you get to see what people do to solve certain problems when you already know the answer. One of my favorite customer stories is when there was a puzzle involving a clock. My customer laid on the floor in a sort of snow angel position. After I asked what he was doing, he said, “I’m trying to think like a clock.” 

Where’s your favorite spot on campus? There’s one corner of the Jobe Lounge that my friends and I all gather in; we call it the “gay corner.” We’re all queer and neurodivergent – we go in packs. That corner is where we’ll collect.  

What’s one thing that really makes your day? Probably interacting with my friends because we have similar mindsets, and we try to be the bright spot in each other's days. Connecting with other people is very important to me.  

What's your favorite meal to cook or eat out? I like to cook eggrolls because I make a very specific kind of eggroll that you don’t see in a lot of restaurants. Homemade egg rolls are the best and I’ll pair it with a spicy siracha mayo that’s just fantastic.  

Shout out an ECC staff member or peer! I would definitely like to shout out Kayla Palmisano and Kellen Bolt. They’ve both sponsored SWANS, and Kellen teaches an LGBTQ literature course that I highly recommend. I had so much fun in that course.