Eva Altizer, Staff Writer

When Adam Wood, 34, was considering what was important to him when switching jobs – he knew one of those things was drag.

 “I told myself wherever I was going to land, it needed to be somewhere where I could do drag or perform drag more consistently,” he said. 

He landed at Denison University, as the assistant director for the Residential Communities and Housing department. Wood got his master’s degree at Kent State University, and had worked at Bowling Green State University for five years. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Wood needed a change of pace.

“The chunk of people that during the height of the pandemic were just like, OK, I need to find a new job at this time – I was a part of that group of people that was looking for a new experience, a new opportunity still working in a housing profession with college students,” Wood said. 

Wood has since become the associate director of Residential Communities and Housing, and Denison has proven to be a good home for drag.

Outlook, the university’s queer-straight alliance, has been a big part of Wood’s experience – and he was the club’s advisor for three years, and still helps arrange the end-of-the-year drag show. 

According to Wood, this end-of-the-year drag show is the second longest running college drag show in the state of Ohio, after Oberlin College, and he has been performing in the show as Madam Woods for as long as he has been at Denison.

This year’s drag show will be May 4, on the third floor of Slayter Student Union. The show’s special guest is Taylor Ratliff, a drag queen that competed on season 16 of Rupaul’s Drag Race and will be performing as Plasma. 

Wood assists the president of Outlook, Emmanuel Rodriguez, ‘27, a junior economics and dance double major from Newark, Ohio. Together, they have been planning the drag show since September. 

“We have a good time. We usually chat in his office a little more about Drag Race, the new season going on and we have a laugh. But besides that, I present him with the blueprints of what I have, and then he comes in at a more analytical level,” Rodriguez said, mentioning that Wood will take care of the contract with special guest performers. 

Outside of drag, Wood also supports the Denison community in several other ways. Grayson Blythe, 30, from Granville, is an assistant director in Residential Communities and Housing, who is directly supervised by Wood. 

“Adam is a very genuine person who wants to help and support others whenever he can. [He] cares deeply about being a source for help and guidance for students, and is the heart of the office of Residential Communities and Housing,” Blythe said. 

Blythe sees Wood as a presence Denison continually benefits from.

“A few years ago, housing underwent drastic staffing changes, where both our director and associate director left at the same time–along with two community coordinators and an administrative assistant. This left myself, who was a community coordinator at the time, Adam, who was an assistant director, and one other person in an office that should have had ten employees in it.

“As the most senior member of our office remaining, Adam stepped in and stepped up without complaint and ran the office for months until new staff could be hired. This was a challenging time, and often we worked late hours and stressful days.

 “But through it all Adam kept our team put together, working hard, and supported. I do not believe I could have stayed here without him during that time, and for his presence, leadership, and guidance, I thank him,” she said. 

Growing up in Meshoppen, Pennsylvania, Wood realized his love for drag in high school, after performing “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga for the school talent show.

“I loved that song so much to the point where I had taught the folks within my student council how to do the ‘Bad Romance’ dance, and we did that as a talent show number for the student council’s talent show. And it didn’t really sink in until that moment that I was like, ‘Oh, this is drag.’ And I just did this in front of my whole school. That’s kind of wild. But fun.” 

Ultimately, Wood wants students to know that giving yourself joy in hard times is important.

“In times where things may feel uncertain or it just seems like there’s so much that’s just going on with the world, the most important thing that you can do with yourself is being able to find those moments of joy. Whatever that might look to you, whether it’s baking, cookies, or playing a sport or putting on a wig and high heel shoes and a dress, whatever the things that find you joy will help in those times.”