Preferred names matter
In 2019, Montclair State University adopted a Preferred Name Policy:
Montclair State University recognizes that some individuals have a strong preference to use and be known by a name other than their Legal Name for reasons related to their gender identity, cultural background, or for other social or personal reasons. It is the University’s policy to permit students and employees to designate, use, and be known within the University community by a Preferred Name, to the extent that doing so is consistent with law, assures the integrity of the University’s official records, and is reasonably feasible to accommodate within the University’s record-management systems.
See full Preferred Name Policy; see FAQs.
The policy is new, but the human desire to select one’s name is not new at all. What is helpful about the policy is that students can systematically inform all of us, at once, as to how they would like to be addressed. If a student requests that you use a name other than what is listed on your roster, you might remind the student of the policy and direct them to the link in the Montclair Syllabus that facilitates the process of changing one’s name. As always, instructors play a key role in amplifying and directing students to policies that may be helpful.
Respecting pronouns
Consistent with Montclair’s commitment to affirming personal choice, instructors are encouraged to be forward-thinking and explicitly inclusive in their speech, writing, and pedagogical decisions around pronoun use. Here are some suggestions:
- Consider modeling by adding personal pronouns in your email address, syllabi, or in other communications. Proponents of adding pronoun signatures argue that it’s an inclusive move, regardless of the author’s pronoun choice. Simply saying “Hello, I am so and so and my pronouns are X, Y, and Z” suggests that pronouns, and gender identification, are decisions that individuals have the right to make and share publicly. Instructors sharing their pronouns may make it easier for some trans and nonbinary people to feel comfortable sharing their own pronoun choices. Skeptics argue that including pronouns elevates gender over other identities, and has become more pro-forma than meaningful. Make your own decision, but consider communicating your decision — and why you made it — with your students lest they assume meaning you do not wish to convey.
- Follow others’ pronoun choices. When an author, scholar, or other person you refer to uses a non-binary pronoun, be sure to follow the person’s choices. Here is a short article, “Gender pronouns are changing: It’s exhilarating,” by linguist John McWhorter who reminds readers that language is always changing.
- Demonstrate inclusivity through course topic, source selection, and author and creator decisions. Through the course of a semester, instructors make hundreds of references and guide students through dozens of texts. Review these textual decisions with an analytic eye: who is represented implicitly and explicitly? More to the point, who is not? Are your syllabi, lecture notes, and references suitable for a gender-expansive world? If your answer is no, start today with a new reading, video, quote-of-the-day, topic, assignment, or homework question.
- Communicate belonging to all your students. A smile, a direct look at someone’s eyes, and other simple efforts at 1-1 engagement communicate acceptance to students. Are such efforts necessary? Some people always feel like they belong, that they are accepted. Others do not, though they will try hard to mask alienation and discomfort. Study after study demonstrates that people who are outside of the majority — by gender, political viewpoint, ethnicity/race, evident ableness, age, religion, — often do not feel like they belong unless someone from the inside explicitly invites them in. Instructors are perfectly situated to communicate belonging or, without effort, to communicate exclusion.
Last Modified: Friday, March 28, 2025 5:53 pm
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