On the evening of Saturday, Feb. 15th, Wellesley students flocked en masse to the Tau Zeta Epsilon society’s little brick house on Tupelo Lane, decked out in their best (and for some, sluttiest) Valentine’s Day attire. Before doors opened at nine, dozens waited outside, lined up in the freezing snow. Few on-campus events are capable of mobilizing our student body to such voracity, but the return of Wellesley Drag was not an affair to be missed. 

First introduced in March 2022, Wellesley Drag quickly became a campus staple. The student-led event founded by Ayelet Kaminer ’25, gives students a chance to adopt a drag persona and perform for their fellow sibs, making a home for itself in Claflin Hall’s basement. Wellesley Drag proudly describes itself as “an independent drag collective for queers, dykes, fags, freaks, sluts, haters, whores, and you.” Acts have ranged from drag king lip-syncs to burlesque routines and everything in between, giving rise to new campus celebrities with clever monikers like “Dickless Van Dyke” and “Ellen DeGenderless.”

Despite innumerable administrative roadblocks, Drag reached a peak in attendance and recognition during the 2023-24 academic year. However, due to ongoing renovations and many of the collective’s original members graduating, going abroad or stepping back, the organization did not hold an event for the entirety of the Fall 2024 semester. 

Thankfully, Drag’s hiatus came to an end when Millie Auslender ’27 and Destiny Eversole ’27 rose to the occasion. “I really wanted [drag] to be back,” Eversole told me. “And it felt like if I didn’t help bring it back, it just wouldn’t happen.” Auslender nodded in agreement, adding, “I remember being at my first Drag and thinking ‘I wanna do that one day.’” 

Auslender, who directed Wellelsey’s production of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” this fall, said, “I think through Rocky and also just being involved in the queer scene at Wellesley, people were talking about it a lot around me and I was like ‘hell yeah, I wanna help.’” 

Auslender and Eversole were by no means alone in this endeavor –– there were many people who helped them plan and execute the return of Wellesley Drag, from seasoned performers to TZE members who helped them secure the space. In particular, they expressed gratitude to Kaminer, Drag’s former producer and host. 

“They helped out a lot, especially with giving tips about how they’ve done it in the past,” Eversole stated. In terms of carrying on Kaminer’s legacy, Auslender told me that she feels “honored.” 

“I think with a lot of other people, stepping up to such a big plate could have been so much more daunting than it was, but Ayelet was so supportive in wanting other people to carry this on… and they want to see fresh ideas, they’re not like ‘no, you have to do it my way,’ they’re like ‘oh, I love the changes you’ve make, I love your vision.’ It’s just really nice to have that support from the founding member throughout the whole process.”

Even with the introduction of new leaders, fresh energy and a new location, Saturday’s performance had many of the qualities and traditions which have made it such a beloved hallmark of campus culture. Audience members gleefully participated in arm-wrestling, a lip-sync battle and a push-up contest. Both Auslender and Eversole performed, as a juggling clown and a slutty Ghostbuster, respectively. 

“I think it’s important for students to have fun and be silly. A lot of people know me just from Senate, or just from class — but that’s not who I am, fully. There’s also the part of me that will shake ass to the ‘Ghostbusters’ song, and I think having that layer of personality just makes everyone on campus seem more approachable and makes [Wellesley] feel more like a community,” Eversole said.

Other highlights of the evening included a tribute to Lady Gaga’s venerable 2009 VMA’s performance of “Paparazzi,” a lipsync to Chappell Roan’s unreleased femme-top anthem “The Giver,” and a drag-king burlesque performance to Steely Dan’s “Dirty Work” –– featuring a strap-on reveal, naturally.

“I think that especially now, when there’s so many restrictions on community spaces at Wellesley and lack of places where students can come together and be authentically themselves, it’s really important to have Drag as a place where students can do that. It’s a very accepting, very queer place where you can come and be yourself and not be judged for it,” Eversole remarked. Auslender added, “I think that’s something that does really lack at Wellesley –– third spaces in general… I think it’s a really important way for people to let loose.”

As restrictions on drag performances and trans existence have increased nationwide under the current Trump administration, the organizers and performers of Wellesley Drag feel the event more essential than ever. 

“Especially in the current political climate, it’s very important for a school like Wellesley especially to have a space on campus that is explicitly queer… without regard for all the shit Trump’s doing right now. There’s really not a lot of spaces off campus where people can feel 100% comfortable being themselves, so creating that space on campus is very important. If nothing else, just to set the precedent that queer and trans people deserve to live and have fun,” Eversole asserted.

Fortunately, the future of Wellesley Drag is in good hands. “It’s about freedom, it’s about community, and I’m really happy to be a part of that,” Auslender said. To aspiring performers, Auslender and Eversole impart the following advice: “Just do it. Get your ass on stage and have fun with it! It’s not that serious.”

If you missed Valentine’s Drag, do not despair –– the collective will be back later this semester. 

Contact the editors responsible for this article: Ivy Buck, Anabelle Meyers