The student union at the University of Sussex has urged members to ask people first about their preferred pronoun before calling them a "he" or "she." This comes in the midst of heightened public interest over gender equality.
The Sun reported that the University of Sussex Student's Union has added the rule in order to avoid assumptions on an individual's gender. The regulations will be implemented for every meeting as well as any type of media or communications.
It is named the Gender Inclusive Language Policy. This urges students to specify their preferred pronoun at the start in order to prevent offense.
If ever introductions cannot be made, though, gender-neutral language is expected to be used. Gender-specific pronouns such as "he" and "she" will be replaced with "they" while "them" will be used in place of "him" and "her."
The student union has declared that the policy should be used by all of its participating staff and students. This is part of the group's efforts to promote inclusion especially for non-binary and transgender individuals.
It was noted that the University of Sussex is believed to be the first to have this policy. Previously, Oxford University encouraged its student community to use the gender neutral pronoun "ze."
Next, it urged other institutions to "remove gender-specific titles." Instead, institutions are advised to use only academic titles like Dr. and Prof.
According to the Daily Mail, any individual who is continued to be called the wrong pronoun can report their concerns to officers. These elected officers will go through gender inclusivity training.
Meanwhile, the University of Kansas has also ramped up its inclusion efforts. The school's library system has developed a "You Belong Here" marketing effort to make sure that students feel welcome regardless of their gender.
The pins are helpful in letting others know how students should be addressed. Using the wrong pronoun can led to the other person being hurt, disrespected and invalidated.
