Lack of gender-inclusive language disappointing

TO THE EDITOR:

When a faculty member (professor Sherryl Kleinman) approached us to ask UNC-Chapel Hill to adopt a gender-inclusive language policy, we were surprised to learn that the University did not have one. The UNC Writing Center already had a detailed handout on gender-sensitive language: www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/gender.html.

There are two points to the University’s policy:

First, regardless of intentions, male-based generics such as “freshman” and “upperclassmen” erase women from our language; “first year” and “upper-level students” include everyone.

Second, reference to a woman or man when that information is irrelevant can easily be dropped. For example, “chair” is preferable to “chairwoman” or “chairman” because the position has nothing to do with the person being female or male.

We are disappointed that The Daily Tar Heel has chosen not to follow the campus policy. Since September 19, the official term at UNC-Chapel Hill has been “first-year”; and “first-year seminars” have always had that title. When the DTH reports on first-year students as “freshmen,” they are using an inaccurate term because the University’s label is “first-year students.” Let’s also remember that more than 60 percent of first-year students at Carolina are women.

These policy changes do more than increase accuracy. A community committed to inclusiveness should demonstrate its commitment through its official language. Words are, after all, tools of thought, reflecting reality and creating it.

I hope the DTH will reconsider the current position in order to align its use of language with the University’s policy.

 
Bruce Carney
Executive Vice-Chancellor & Provost

Ron Strauss
Executive Associate Provost