UC System requires students to pass training affirming transgender policies or face class registration holds
The University of California System’s SHAPE program is a state-mandated sexual harassment training for students.
In the online exam for the training, students are required to pass with 100 percent completion or face registration holds.
The University of California System’s mandated harassment training is requiring students to affirm transgender policies with the threat of class registration being at risk if students fail to complete them.
The UC System’s Sexual Violence and Harassment, Anti-Discrimination, Prevention and Education Training (SHAPE) was “developed and required by the Systemwide Office for Civil Rights at the University of California Office of the President.”
The training is mandated by the state of California to “annually train all students on sexual violence, sexual harassment, and prevention of discrimination and harassment to promote awareness of resources and reporting options.”
Assembly Bill No. 2608, the legislation that began the mandated training and which was approved by California Gov. Gavin Newsom on July 15, 2024, applies to “the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and independent institutions of higher education and private postsecondary educational institutions that receive state financial assistance.”
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However, a recent report details how the SHAPE training focuses heavily on social issues.
The Center Square reports that the SHAPE training warns students that a “hostile environment may be created when someone demands that others use a particular bathroom that does not correspond to their gender identity or uses the incorrect pronoun. Intentionally calling someone their name used before transition, as opposed to their lived name, is called dead-naming, and may be a form of sexual harassment.”
Students must pass the online exam with a score of 100 percent, or else “an academic hold will be placed on student records who do not complete mandatory training.” This type of hold makes it so that students cannot enroll in courses in the upcoming academic quarter.
In one of the questions that students are asked to interact with in the exam, students are required to answer that a situation represents a “hostile environment.”
The prompt that leads students to this answer asks: “My name is Mona, and I am transgender. My classmate Jane continues to call me James, which was my name before I transitioned. Jane refers to me as a man and complains when I use the women’s restroom. I’ve asked her to stop, but she does not. I feel very disrespected and want this to stop. What type of prohibited conduct can this be?”
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) has commented about the SHAPE exam in a series of posts on social media, stating that the UC System must “clarify that dead-naming or using the wrong pronouns can only be punished if they are a part of a larger pattern of harassment. The First Amendment demands nothing less.”
5/ FIRE calls on the University of California system to clarify that dead-naming or using the wrong pronouns can only be punished if they are a part of a larger pattern of harassment. The First Amendment demands nothing less. https://t.co/YkC8zJYJ7C
— FIRE (@TheFIREorg) October 31, 2025
Campus Reform contacted the UC System for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
