Harvard University has appointed a drag performer who goes by the stage name “LaWhore Vagistan” as a visiting professor in its Studies of Gender and Sexuality programme, sparking fierce debate about academic standards and conservative criticism of “woke” teaching practices at America’s most prestigious university.
Kareem Khubchandani, an associate professor at Tufts University who performs in drag under the provocative stage name, will serve as the 2025-2026 F.O. Matthiessen Visiting Associate Professor, teaching courses including “Queer Ethnography” and “RuPaulitics: Drag, Race, and Desire”. The appointment was announced in July but has recently gained widespread attention on social media.
The Ivy League institution confirmed Khubchandani will bring what he describes as “the nightclub to the classroom” whilst teaching critical race, postcolonial, and gender theory through a combination of academic lectures and performance art.
Academic Credentials Meet Drag Performance
Despite the controversial stage name, Khubchandani holds substantial academic credentials. He earned his PhD in Performance Studies from Northwestern University in 2014 and holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Anthropology from Colgate University. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at Tufts University.
The scholar has published extensively in academic journals including the Journal of Asian American Studies and Scholar and Feminist Online. His books include “Decolonize Drag” and the award-winning “Ishtyle: Accenting Gay Indian Nightlife”, which received the 2021 Dance Studies Association de la Torre Bueno best book award.
His forthcoming book, “Lessons in Drag: A Queer Manual for Academics, Artists, and Aunties”, is set for release in October 2025 through Brandeis University Press. Harvard says his lectures will highlight material from this upcoming publication.
Provocative Stage Name Explained
Khubchandani has performed as LaWhore Vagistan for over a decade, describing the persona as “everyone’s favourite South Asian academic auntie”. In a 2015 promotional video for Johns Hopkins University Press, he explained the origins of his stage name with characteristic provocativeness.
“I chose ‘LaWhore’ because my family traces its origins to Pakistan: Lahore is an important city in Pakistan, and, well, I’m a bit of a whore,” Khubchandani stated. “And Vagistan because I see the subcontinent as one, big, beautiful Vag… istan.”
He went on to provide a graphic anatomical metaphor for South Asian geography: “Close your eyes and visualise it: India is the uterus-vagina, Pakistan and Bangladesh are the ovaries, Afghanistan, Nepal, Burma, and Bhutan are the fallopian tubes, and Sri Lanka is a little floating labia.”
Course Content Raises Eyebrows
The “Queer Ethnography” course, offered in the autumn semester, will study what Harvard’s course catalogue describes as “gender and sexual dissidents” including “gay neighbourhoods, trans raves, sex work, lesbian parties, BDSM dungeons, AIDS activism”.
The spring semester’s “RuPaulitics” course will examine “contemporary and historical drag archives, as well as critical readings on race and gender” whilst providing students with “robust tools to analyse drag”. Students enrolled in the course will be required to attend drag shows and participate in “performance-based exercises”.
Khubchandani, who uses “any pronouns” according to his biography, has integrated his drag persona into academic teaching for years. A March 2024 article from The Georgetown Independent documented a campus performance where LaWhore Vagistan delivered a lecture entitled “Lessons in Drag” as part of Georgetown’s South Asia Speaker Series.
Conservative Backlash
The appointment has triggered a storm of criticism from conservative commentators and social media users, with many questioning Harvard’s academic standards. Fox News highlighted the appointment as the latest example of what critics view as ideological imbalance at elite universities.
X (formerly Twitter) users, including CEO Elon Musk, have ridiculed Harvard’s decision. One user posted: “At this point Harvard can’t even be a real university. I suppose 15 to 20 years from now a clown college will have more merit than any accreditation from Harvard.”
The controversy comes as Harvard faces ongoing scrutiny from the Trump administration over its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies. In April 2025, President Trump cut billions of pounds in federal funding for the university after it refused requests to scrap DEI programmes.
Harvard Defends Appointment
Harvard’s appointment of Khubchandani falls under a visiting professorship endowment designated for “eminent scholars studying issues related to sexual minorities”. The university’s Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality department welcomed the appointment, noting his extensive academic publications and awards.
Supporters have praised Harvard for increasing academic diversity and embracing innovative teaching methods that bridge performance art and scholarly discourse. They argue that Khubchandani’s work offers valuable insights into marginalised communities and their creative resistance to oppressive structures.
“My work is committed to uplifting the creative ways that minoritarian subjects live inside of oppressive structures, especially how we use dance, fashion, and language to build something more beautiful for each other,” Khubchandani states on his personal website.
Cultural Context and Impact
Beyond classroom instruction, Khubchandani has performed drag for years, releasing a music video titled “Sari” and staging numerous performances at academic institutions. His persona has been described as a “judgemental South Asian aunty” who brings humour and cultural critique to discussions of gender and sexuality.
The appointment highlights ongoing tensions in American higher education between traditional academic approaches and more experimental, performance-based pedagogies. It also reflects broader cultural battles over gender identity, drag performance, and LGBTQ+ visibility in educational settings.
Khubchandani’s research focuses on the intersection of queer nightlife, global politics, ethnography, the South Asian diaspora, and drag performance. His work examines how “gender is used as a form of colonial governance to eliminate various types of expression” whilst celebrating performers who “resist and laugh at colonial projects through their aesthetic practices”.
Looking Ahead
As Khubchandani prepares to begin teaching at Harvard, the controversy shows no signs of abating. The appointment has become a lightning rod for debates about academic freedom, the role of performance in education, and the boundaries of acceptable discourse in elite institutions.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Harvard University, Harvard’s Committee on Degrees in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, and Khubchandani for comment, though no responses have been reported.
The appointment represents a bold statement from Harvard about its commitment to diverse perspectives and unconventional pedagogical approaches, even as it faces potential consequences in terms of federal funding and public perception. Whether Khubchandani’s blend of drag performance and academic scholarship will prove transformative or controversial remains to be seen as the academic year progresses.
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