Townley Jordan - Colorado University Mandates Inclusive Language

Summary: Colleges all around the United States are creating “inclusive language” campaigns to encourage students to use gender neutral language. The goal is to eliminate phrases that could possibly offend someone, for example, “hey guys” or “mankind”. The University of Northern Colorado has taken this recommendation even further, mandating it in at least five classes in the past year. Kelly Davis, a sociology professor at the school, had the requirement included in four of her syllabuses this past spring. She was approached by the news company, Heat Street, for more information as to how she enforced the rules, but neglected to respond. Another sociology professor at the university, Mark Shuey, told Heat Street that he regretted including the requirement on his syllabus in his Sociology of Minorities class in the past spring. He added it without thinking it through, and later realized that he felt it was a violation of students’ free speech. He mentioned that he had not enforced the rule, nor had any students object to it, saying that it would not be fair of him to punish students for not using gender inclusive language.

Analysis: This article was written to inform people of a current issue circulating through the United States. The author included both points of view, one that speech on campus should be censored as not to offend people, and another saying it is our right to have free speech and counting off points for not using a gender-neutral term would not be fair. While I was aware of gender neutral and inclusive language, I had never heard of it being mandated in colleges. I can see both sides of this debate. I think anything that offends less people is probably good in a country that is often turning to violence to fix our problems. However, at the same time, I feel that while suggesting this is a great idea, mandating it may be a violation of our freedom of speech. Since terms such as “mankind” and “hey guys” are common terms that are not purposefully used as offensive language, I do not agree that it is students should be counted off for using a terms that are casual and common at this point in time. However in the future, if they do become known as offensive terms, then it would be more appropriate to mandate the use of this inclusive language. For now though, I believe it should stay as a suggestion because it would be beneficial to the community. This article is important because it shows the changes in time from when these terms would not have been offensive to anyone, to now when we are becoming much more aware of the rights and beliefs of all people and trying to avoid offending anyone. This relates to the history of the n-word, which originated from the Latin word niger, meaning black, and didn’t become a derogatory term until the 1800s.

gender neutral language mandated