In late October, Middlebury College announced that Lia Smith, a 21-year-old student, had taken her own life. Born in Berkeley, California, Lia was a senior pursuing a double major in Computer Science and Statistics, a member of the LGBTQ+, Bridge, Chess, and Japanese clubs, and a dedicated advocate for transgender rights. Her family describes her as deeply curious and kind, with a love of history—especially China, Japan, and medieval Europe—a passion for music and poetry, and a sharp, playful sense of humor. She adored her cat, Edgar, played piano and trombone, and relished board games and long meals with friends over sushi, lobster, or poke.
She was also a former trans athlete in a country that increasingly treats transgender participation in sports as a political controversy rather than a matter of belonging, dignity, and fairness.
Lia began diving for Middlebury during the 2022–2023 season, her freshman year. She was one of the team’s top performers, winning both boards at dual meets against Springfield and Bowdoin and placing fifth on the three-meter board at the NESCAC Championships, earning an NCAA “B” cut.
Despite her success, Lia took a break from diving sophomore year. She later spoke about the hoops that she was required to jump through as a trans athlete in her freshman year. “You have to get your hormones checked… once every three months,” she told students at an event covered by the Addison Independent, “and my healthcare’s at home, so it can be really hard getting all of those blood tests in between breaks and then submitting them on time.”
Smith also spoke about the difficulty of sharing space with teammates as a trans woman. “It’s also really hard going in a locker room where you’re not welcome, and there’s really not a clear space that I should be going to.” The prospect of making others uncomfortable or being seen as a predator seemed to weigh heavily on Lia. “We’re not trying to get into women’s spaces to be perverts,” she said at the event. “We’re just being ourselves. We don’t mean any harm to anyone.”
As of October 2024, her roster page was still live on Middlebury’s website. In January, the anti-trans social-media account “he cheated” began posting repeatedly about Lia — deadnaming her and asserting that she was back on the Middlebury Swimming and Diving roster for the 2024-2025 season.
On February 6, the Trump administration banned transgender athletes from women’s sports, and the NCAA immediately followed suit with a policy aligning with federal guidance. For many trans women, the new rules would have ended their college athletic careers overnight.
On February 11, the anti-trans social media account reported that Lia’s page had been deleted from the Middlebury College website.
Because Middlebury competes in Division III athletics, Lia’s participation was never tied to a scholarship or athletic funding. Division III programs do not offer athletic scholarships, and athletes compete purely for personal and team pride. That distinction matters — there was no financial incentive or institutional pressure shaping her situation, only the emotional and social stakes of belonging to a team she clearly loved.
On February 20, Lia spoke at a student-organized counter-event titled “Trans Healthcare Is NOT a Debate,” and news coverage describes her as “a trans woman who competed as a diver for Middlebury’s aquatics team. She reflected on her experiences, discussed the challenges of competing under intense scrutiny, and offered encouragement to others. “Know that there are people in your community who are here for you and care about you,” she said.
Lia was last seen on Middlebury’s campus on October 17th and was first reported missing on October 19, though Vermont State Police did not conduct a full-scale search of the area around the campus until October 23rd. On October 24th, the State Police confirmed her death. In his statement to the Middlebury College community, President Ian Baucom described her as “a diver on our Women’s Swimming and Diving team and an articulate advocate of transgender rights.”
Lia is the second trans woman to die at Middlebury in just three years, following the 2022 death of another student that sparked questions about the college’s support services. That tragedy prompted promises of reform, but Lia’s death has reopened those wounds and reignited debate about how well the institution supports its queer and trans students.
What happened to Lia Smith is not a simple story of inclusion or exclusion. It’s the story of a young woman navigating a system that changed beneath her feet — rules rewritten overnight, records deleted without explanation, and an institution still struggling to meet the needs of its most vulnerable students.
I graduated from Middlebury a decade ago, in a time when no one I knew was out as trans, and many of my queer classmates lived in quiet disguise, afraid that being seen might cost them everything. I want to believe that the campus I once called home has changed — that it’s grown gentler, wiser, more open. But stories like Lia’s make it hard to be sure.
In lieu of flowers, Lia’s family asks that donations be made in her memory to the Prism Center for Queer and Trans Life at Middlebury College, which supports LGBTQ+ students on campus.
May her memory be a blessing — and a reminder of how fragile belonging can be when compassion has to fight for air.
If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available. You can call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for free, confidential support, or reach out to The Trevor Project at 866-488-7386 for LGBTQ+-affirming care.
And if you’re a college student who feels lost right now, please know that it does get better — slowly, unevenly, but truly. There is a future that will hold you more gently than the past.
Ugh this breaks my heart. Legislation and people’s words have serious consequences. Thank you for sharing
This is heartbreaking. Thank your sharing her story.