[h=1]Colleges trend toward gender-neutral pronouns[/h]
NASHVILLE — Gender-neutral pronouns like ze and xyr have pulled the University of Tennessee into the national spotlight and the crosshairs of legislators, but the school is far from a radical outlier.Instead, it is one of many colleges across the country that is looking for ways to accommodate students who don’t identify as strictly male or female. Steps taken recently at Vanderbilt University, Harvard University and the University of California system, among others, represent a more aggressive push for gender-neutral pronouns than the column posted last week on Tennessee’s website. That post explained the use of gender-neutral pronouns and encouraged students and professors to discuss them.
At Vanderbilt in Nashville, a more familiar gender-neutral pronoun was added to the student handbook in August. Variations are used as single-person pronouns alongside forms of he and she. A statement in the handbook said the addition was made in an effort to create "a community that is welcoming and inclusive to individuals of all gender identities and expressions."
Student leaders at Vanderbilt also are working with administrators to allow students to indicate the pronouns they use on class rosters and housing assignments.
USA TODAY
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At Harvard this year, students are getting the chance to indicate their preferred gender-neutral pronouns during registration, according to news reports. Also this year, students applying to schools in the University of California system can choose between six gender identities in an optional question on the application.
Other public schools in Tennessee have taken steps similar to UT’s without as much controversy. Middle Tennessee State University added a glossary of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender terms to its website last summer that defined ze, hir and hirs as pronouns that might be "preferred by some gender diverse persons."
MTSU spokesman Jimmy Hart said the university added the glossary as a resource for students, not a policy, echoing UT's response to its own web post in which Pride Center Director Donna Braquet suggested students and professors should ask each other what pronouns they use, including gender-neutral options like ze or xe.
Despite UT's insistence that the post was not meant to become a mandatory directive, Republican lawmakers have reacted with outrage. State Sen. Bo Watson said the pronouns were a "ridiculous suggestion" and called for legislators to investigate the post.
State senators will meet to discuss the post and "higher education governance" next month.
NASHVILLE — Gender-neutral pronouns like ze and xyr have pulled the University of Tennessee into the national spotlight and the crosshairs of legislators, but the school is far from a radical outlier.Instead, it is one of many colleges across the country that is looking for ways to accommodate students who don’t identify as strictly male or female. Steps taken recently at Vanderbilt University, Harvard University and the University of California system, among others, represent a more aggressive push for gender-neutral pronouns than the column posted last week on Tennessee’s website. That post explained the use of gender-neutral pronouns and encouraged students and professors to discuss them.
At Vanderbilt in Nashville, a more familiar gender-neutral pronoun was added to the student handbook in August. Variations are used as single-person pronouns alongside forms of he and she. A statement in the handbook said the addition was made in an effort to create "a community that is welcoming and inclusive to individuals of all gender identities and expressions."
Student leaders at Vanderbilt also are working with administrators to allow students to indicate the pronouns they use on class rosters and housing assignments.
USA TODAY
Gender loses its impact with the young
At Harvard this year, students are getting the chance to indicate their preferred gender-neutral pronouns during registration, according to news reports. Also this year, students applying to schools in the University of California system can choose between six gender identities in an optional question on the application.
Other public schools in Tennessee have taken steps similar to UT’s without as much controversy. Middle Tennessee State University added a glossary of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender terms to its website last summer that defined ze, hir and hirs as pronouns that might be "preferred by some gender diverse persons."
MTSU spokesman Jimmy Hart said the university added the glossary as a resource for students, not a policy, echoing UT's response to its own web post in which Pride Center Director Donna Braquet suggested students and professors should ask each other what pronouns they use, including gender-neutral options like ze or xe.
Despite UT's insistence that the post was not meant to become a mandatory directive, Republican lawmakers have reacted with outrage. State Sen. Bo Watson said the pronouns were a "ridiculous suggestion" and called for legislators to investigate the post.
State senators will meet to discuss the post and "higher education governance" next month.
