MADNESS IS TAKING OVER OUR COUNTRY

Penn State moves to eliminate 'gendered' and 'binary' terms to make school more inclusive

 

by Michael Lee

 

Washington Examiner

May 13, 2021  

 

The Pennsylvania State University’s faculty senate approved a new proposition that will remove "gendered" and "binary" language from the school’s program and course descriptions.

“The University, as with most all academic institutions world-wide, has grown out of a typically male-centered world,” read a University Faculty Senate document explaining the proposed change. “As such, many terms in our lexicon carry a strong, male-centric, binary character to them. Terms such as ‘freshmen’ are decidedly male-specific, while terms such as ‘upperclassmen’ can be interpreted as both sexist and classist. Terms such as ‘junior’ and ‘senior’ are parallel to western male father-son naming conventions, and much of our written documentation uses he/she pronouns.”

The document explained that the changes would help all students feel more comfortable, allowing them to choose their name and gender identity and removing gendered terms.

The University Faculty Senate promised that such changes will make Penn State “inclusive from the start” of a student’s experience in the university system.

Specifically, the proposed rules would “move away from the use of gendered pronouns” by replacing “he/him/his and she/her/hers with they/them/theirs or use non-gendered terms.” It would also replace “male-centric” terms such as “freshman/sophomore/junior/senior with first-year (1st-year), second-year (2nd-year), third-year (3rd-year), fourth-year (4th-year), and beyond.”

“The committee recognizes that there may be places where these terms, especially gender terms, may need to remain intact, for example in the case of courses or degrees that delve into gender studies,” the document continued. “In such cases, efforts shall be made to clearly delineate between the ‘academic’ study of these gendered terms, and the newly established nomenclature as it would apply to faculty, staff, students, and guests.”

William Kenyon, a member of the Senate Committee on Curricular Affairs, hailed the move, saying that it was a good “first step” to make the university more inclusive.

“This is hopefully the first step of many to assure our words throughout the university are inclusive and welcoming,” Kenyon said.