Penn State to ditch 'male-specific' student titles like freshmen

Students at Penn State may soon be saying goodbye to the term “sophomore slump” and hello to “second-year slump.”

According to a report in Penn State’s student newspaper The Daily Collegian, Penn State’s Faculty Senate voted to remove gendered and binary terms from Penn State course and program descriptions.

As part of the recommendations, the terms freshman, sophomore, junior and senior would be replaced with first-year, second-year, third-year, fourth-year and beyond. For example, additional undergraduate years that have resulted in the nickname “super-senior” would be replaced with fifth-year, and beyond as needed, according to the Collegian story.

The recommendations also include replacing he/him/his and she/her/hers with they/them/theirs or non-gendered terms such as student, faculty members, and staff members.

“Terms such as ‘freshmen’ are decidedly male-specific, while terms such as ‘upperclassmen’ can be interpreted as both sexist and classist. Terms such as ‘junior’ and ‘senior’ are parallel to Western male father-son naming conventions, and much of our written documentation uses he/she pronouns,” the policy states.

Another recommendation by the Faculty Senate is to replace the terms “underclassmen” and “upperclassmen” with “lower division” and “upper division.”

“This is hopefully the first step of many to assure our words throughout the university are inclusive and welcoming,” William Kenyon, a member of the Senate Committee on Curricular Affairs and head of the university’s Lighting Design Program, told the Centre Daily Times.

As it moves away from gendered and binary terms, @penn_state will stop using the titles "freshman," "sophomore," "junior" and "senior." Do you agree with the move?

— TribLIVE.com (@TribLIVE) May 18, 2021

According to the University Faculty Senate website, the reason for this particular push comes from the “many classist and sexist” terms used to describe students’ standing and courses at Penn State.

The site goes on to say that, if enacted, the policy will enable students to feel comfortable choosing their name and gender identity and also ensure that a welcoming environment is provided, the Collegian reported.

Following comments by the office of the president, the recommendations will be implemented, according to a spokesperson. Such a move would put Penn State ahead of other colleges and universities around the country that are grappling with the issue but have yet to put in place similar legislation.