UW-Milwaukee Considering Pronoun Guidelines For Gender Inclusivity

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students and staff may soon get used seeing personal pronouns become a standard topic of conversation on campus.

Whether it is actress Laverne Cox appearing on the cover of TIME or Bruce Jenner’s status dominating gossip conversations, the transgender community has received a dramatic increase in visibility on the national level. The Chancellor’s Advisory Committee for LGBT+ Advocacy at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is trying to ensure a safe campus environment comes with that increased visibility for students and staff at the school.

Dr. Cary Costello is an associate professor in the Sociology Department and a member of the Advisory Committee.  According to Costello, the committee is currently crafting a new syllabus guideline for UWM instructors intended to make classrooms more gender inclusive.

The guideline would have two functions: First, to make instructors aware of their duty to ensure their students’ gender identities are respected in the classroom and stating as such in the syllabus. Second, they would guide instructors on how to include their own name and pronouns in use as part of their syllabus. Instructors would also be encouraged to make pronouns a standard part of first-day introductions. They are to do this by explaining which pronouns they personally use for themselves.

Committee Co-Chair Jennifer Murray believes that by having instructors model the practice of stating their pronouns in use, it will not only increase campus-wide awareness of personal pronouns but also create an environment where students who identify by non-binary pronouns can feel safe to do so.

Not all people identify with the binary system of gendered, singular pronouns such as he or she. According to the “Massive Millennial Poll” conducted by the Benenson Strategy Group, 50 percent of millennials believe that gender falls on a spectrum rather than simply male or female. And there are emerging gender neutral pronouns for those who identify outside of the traditional definitions of male or female.

Many of those people prefer to be referred to as a singular form of they.  Others are pushing for new sets of pronouns like ze/zim/zir or e/em/ers to gain acceptance. These are singular, third-person pronouns that function in the same manner as he/him/his and she/her/hers, but they lack an implied gender. The LGBT Resource Center at UWM already distributes cards detailing how to use many of these alternative pronouns, but having instructors introduce the topic of personal pronouns could lead to greater awareness of these alternate pronouns, even if most instructors identify by just he or she.

One instructor who already has a pronoun discussion with their classes is Noel Mariano. Mariano is an English PhD candidate as well as a lecturer for the Ethnic Studies and LGBT Studies departments. Mariano identifies as gender fluid – meaning their gender identity is dynamic. Sometimes Mariano will identify as more feminine, sometimes more masculine and sometimes neither.

“I tend to use ‘they/them/their’ as a default,” said Mariano. Although Mariano said they also accept traditional he or she pronouns when presenting as clearly masculine or feminine at the time.

Mariano hopes including a pronoun statement syllabus in the syllabus improves the campus climate but is worried there will not be enough education on why it exists.

“I can see a lot of blowback against this,” Mariano said. “I don’t think it will work as intended because there’s not enough training for it.”

The LGBT Resource Center currently provides safe space training workshops to educate UWM students and staff on topics such as this; however, attending the training is not mandatory for anyone on campus.

According to Murray, the new syllabus guidelines would go alongside a student’s name and pronouns in use appearing on class rosters, eliminating the need for students to bring up the topic with each individual instructor. Currently, students can only be recognized by their legal name in official university records, and a legal name change can be cost-prohibitive for students with transgender or non-binary identities who go by a name other than the one given to them at birth.

However, Costello admits changing class rosters faces additional barriers that the syllabus policy does not.

“The Chancellor’s Advisory Committee for LGBT+ Advocacy has been working literally for years to try to improve the process by which transgender students and staff are able to get their name in use to be displayed,” said Costello.  “Currently, the controlling factor at UWM is held by administrators to be the name on one’s Social Security card, as tax and financial aid information link to Social Security number.”

Because of this, the Committee faces resistance from university administrators to changing policies on how students are identified.

While progress on respecting students’ names in use is slow, there are signs that the campus has been working towards greater gender inclusivity.

In 2013, UWM became the first school in the UW System to offer inclusive housing. Residents who request inclusive housing are given room assignments without regard to gender, providing a more comfortable arrangement for those who are transgender or gender non-conforming. According to Murray, about 30 students have selected that option this school year.

The campus also has a number of gender neutral restrooms labeled as “inclusive restroom.”

But to some, there is still more work left to be done to make the campus more welcoming to transgender and gender non-conforming students and staff.

“UWM is better than most,” said Mariano. “But it still has a long way to go.”