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.