Scripps College’s student portal added a new
feature for students to select their own gender pronouns on Feb. 12. The gender-specification option is
intended to help faculty learn and remember their students’ pronouns.
Professors will be able to view students’ pronouns on their class lists and advisee rosters. Registrar
Kelly Hogencamp wrote in an email to the student body on Feb. 12 that the
feature “has been made available for students and faculty in an
effort to build an inclusive environment.”
“This is a change for Scripps to be more respectful of the
way that Scripps students choose to self-identify,” Scripps Associated Students President Alex Frumkin SC ’15 wrote
in an email to TSL.
Rachel Neuberg SC ’17 said that this is a positive development for students
in an “institution that is meant to create a safe space for students to
explore identity.”
“One’s gender identity should
not be something that causes them anxiety in their everyday lives,” Neuberg said. “I hope that
Scripps will continue to create a safe and comfortable place for its students,
and that other colleges will take note so we can all work together to stop
institutionalized violence.”
The gender-identification page
allows Scripps students to choose from ten pronoun options: e/ey, em, eir/eirs, eirself/emse; he, him, his, himself; hu, hum, hus, humself; “just my name please”; none; per, per, per/pers, perself; she, her, hers, herself; they, them, their/theirs, themse; ze, hir, hir/hirs, hirself; and ze, zir, zir/zirs, zirself.
Hogencamp’s email included a pronunciation guide
for some of the pronouns that are less commonly used.
Christina Ilona Tricou SC ’17 wrote
in an email to TSL that
the portal has great potential to serve as a helpful resource to faculty.
“I think it’s great!” Tricou
wrote. “It’s absolutely something that should be done for everyone who
doesn’t want to be referred to with female gender pronouns but is in a class
where the professor doesn’t ask or isn’t comfortable voicing it.”
Hogencamp wrote that this feature “has
been implemented in response to student recommendations and in consultation
with many constituents in the Scripps community.”
During the transition to the new pronoun system, students
are encouraged to discuss their pronouns with their professors.
The change comes just two
months after Scripps approved a new admissions policy allowing any applicants
who self-identify as women and applicants whose birth certificates indicate
that they are female to apply for admission.
Several other women’s colleges,
including Mount Holyoke College, Mills College and Bryn Mawr College, have
also recently approved trans-inclusive admissions policies. Others, such as
Barnard College and Smith College, have not changed their admissions criteria
to allow for trans applicants.