Harvard Hires Drag Performer as New Professor

Harvard University recently announced the hiring of a drag performer, who will teach courses centered around Ru Paul’s Drag Race in the upcoming spring semester.

In a message to the university community released in July, Kareem Khubchandani was introduced as a visiting professor. His appointment came through the efforts of the Harvard Gender and Sexuality Caucus, and he has experience teaching at Tufts University, focusing on gender and sexuality studies.

Khubchandani is perhaps better known by his stage name, “Lawhore Vagistan.” Interestingly, he has spent over ten years developing this persona through various performances and projects.

In an interview published by Johns Hopkins University Press in 2015, he shared some background on his unique stage name, explaining that he connects it to his family’s heritage from Pakistan. “My name is Lawhore Vagistan, and I chose it because Lahore is a significant city in Pakistan,” he said. He also added a humorous twist by referring to the subcontinent as a “big, beautiful vagus nerve… Istan.”

According to a Harvard publication, Kubuchandani will be teaching two courses: “queer ethnography” and “lepolitics: drugs, race, and desire,” with the latter revolving around the popular cable show.

Alongside his teaching, Khubchandani has authored the book “Decolonizer Drag: and Ishstyle: Actenting Gay Indian Nightlife,” and he is set to release a new book this fall.

Notably, news of his hiring came just after President Trump announced a freeze on $2.4 billion worth of federal grants to Harvard.

During a press briefing, Trump remarked on the university’s financial standing, calling it a “huge trade school” that would be managed by Harvard.

As of now, Harvard has not provided any comment regarding these developments.