Christian university lets students register their preferred pronouns

Emory University, a Methodist college in Atlanta, is now allowing students to enter their preferred pronouns on the university’s registrar website.

Pronoun options include ‘Xie/Hir/Hirs.'

Emory University, a Methodist college in Atlanta, is now allowing students to enter their preferred pronouns on the university’s registrar website.

“Pronoun options include: He/Him/His, She/Her/Hers, They/Them/Theirs, Xie/Hir/Hirs and Ze/Zir/Zirs,” according to a press release from Emory News Center 

Students will claim their preferred pronouns via the Online Pathway to University Students (OPUS) system, an interface used primarily for making payments and registering for classes.

According to the press release, “[o]nce a selection has been made, the pronouns, like chosen names, will populate in locations such as class rosters.”

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“[T]he policy change comes after requests from students and the university’s desire to make campus more welcoming to students of all genders.”

Emory’s policy change follows a national trend that Campus Reform has reported on in recent years.

New York University, for example, implemented a similar change at the beginning of 2020, which included an option for students to not use pronouns at all.

In September 2021, the University of North Dakota proposed changing its housing policy to allow students to live in dorms that matched their gender identity.

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Later that year, Columbia University encouraged students to report each other for misgendering their peers. 

Danielle M. Bruce-Steele, director of the Offices of LGBT Life and Belonging and Community Justice, told Emory News Center that the change “will push the university forward to even greater inclusion of our LGBTQ community members.”

The press release concludes that the “introduction of pronoun selection is part of a larger move on behalf of the university to further understand student identity.” 

Campus Reform contacted Emory University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.