The new preferred name and pronoun policy allows students to change their name or pronouns based on their gender expression or lack thereof.
Not all people go by “he” or “she.” In fact, Jesper Beckholt, a fifth year studying English, prefers “it” or “they.”
Now the potential burden and stress of having to explain Beckholt’s lifestyle can be avoided thanks to the new preferred name and pronoun policy Ohio University is working on putting into place.
The new policy, passed at the Nov. 3 Graduate Student Senate meeting, gives students the opportunity to make known their preferred name or pronoun.
Students’ preference will be specified to financial aid, professors and written on student ID cards, class rosters and advising lists.
OU is currently in the “technological phase” of implementing the changes. The goal is to have it in full effect by the next academic year, said Delfin Bautista, director of the LGBT Center.
As a result of the change in policy, students such as Beckholt will no longer need to explain their identity to professors or peers in classroom settings.
OU’s Campus Care and Counseling and Psychological Services have already implemented a preferred name and pronoun policy to their departments.
Having the policy makes the staff “more aware of what the patients wants to be referred to as,” said Amanda Swope, nursing supervisor at Campus Care.
“There have been times when our staff has made mistakes and they feel extremely embarrassed by it but I know the patients feel grateful when it is correct,” Swope said.
For Beckholt, correcting people has almost become habit, though Beckholt knows there are other trans individuals who are not as assertive.
“(The policy) is helpful to people who are just coming into their identity,” Beckholt said.
In the past, there have been instances when a professor was not open to the preferred name or pronoun, Bautista said. Consequently students feared that the professor would take this out on them or their grade.
“Trans students are not being recognized and respected for who they are as people,” Bautista said. “This will create mindfulness about trans-various students.”
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