Women’s school that accepts men seemingly threatens to punish those who mock ‘pronoun policy’
The school asked faculty members to report any ‘open mocking of our Pronoun Policy or an individual's choice of pronouns.’
Mount Holyoke admits men who ‘identify’ as women despite marketing itself as a college for women.
Mount Holyoke College has recently communicated new guidelines to faculty concerning conformity with the school’s “pronoun policy.”
Holyoke is a women’s college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Despite marketing itself as being for women, the school proclaims that it supports “gender diversity in admissions,” which presumably means that it admits men to the school if they “identify” as women.
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The school affirms its commitment “to providing equal access and opportunity in employment and education” and rejects discrimination based on “gender identity or expression,” among other things.
The school has a “Pronoun Sharing and Disclosure Policy” that was approved in 2022, which states that Holyoke is “committed to affirming the self-determination and expression of all members of the campus community.”
“All employees, students and volunteers of the College are encouraged to integrate pronoun sharing/disclosure opportunities in the communications, documents and systems that they navigate. Additionally, all College-affiliated individuals and representatives should identify opportunities to invite sharing of personal pronouns in interpersonal interactions,” the policy states.
The policy page describes “you, her, they, his, my, zir,” as examples of pronouns.
The policy seems to warn that, when someone shares “personal pronouns,” other “members of the community” will be compelled to use those pronouns. The school provides a Bias Reporting Form to report violations of its pronoun policy.
A Sept. 4 X post revealed an email from Holyoke’s Provost and Dean of Faculty, Lisa M. Sullivan, which states that “[i]t is the expectation of the College that faculty report when misgendering occurs,” including “when the misgendering has created a hostile environment,” when “there is open mocking of our Pronoun Policy or an individual’s choice of pronouns,” or when “a student reports being misgendered, deadnamed, or has been subject to incorrect use of their pronouns.”
Campus Reform has reached out to Mount Holyoke College for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.