Faculty also must report anyone making fun of college’s pronoun policy, administrators say
Mount Holyoke College rolled out a new directive this fall that requires faculty to report “misgendering, deadnaming,” or using “incorrect” pronouns for individuals on campus.
The directive came from a Sept. 4 email, shared on X, from the Massachusetts college’s administration regarding its recently created Compliance Department.
“It is the expectation of the College that faculty report when misgendering occurs,” the email from Assistant Vice President for Compliance Shannon Lynch and Provost and Dean of Faculty Lisa Sullivan stated.
Faculty has a responsibility to do so “as mandated reporters at the College,” Lynch and Sullivan wrote.
In Massachusetts, mandated reporters are individuals “who, as a result of their profession, are more likely to be aware of abuse or neglect” and “are required by law to report cases of suspected abuse” of children, people with disabilities, and elderly individuals to authorities, according to the state Health and Social Services website.
At the private college, the administrators wrote that faculty should report to the college when “misgendering creates a hostile environment.”
Faculty also should tell administrators when a student reports being “deadnamed,” a term referring to someone calling a transgender person by their given name after the person changes their name to match their “gender identity,” according to the email.
Furthermore, faculty must report if a student “has been subject to incorrect use of their pronouns,” or “mispronouning.”
Additionally, they must report if “there is an open mocking of [the college’s] pronoun policy or an individual’s choice of pronouns,” according to the email.
The email noted that the new directives come in response to the Biden administration’s overhaul of Title IX, which included redefining the word “sex” to encompass “gender identity.” Title IX is a federal law that prohibits schools from discriminating on the basis of sex.
Lynch and Sullivan said in their email that “Title IX regulations expanded to include misgendering, deadnaming, and mispronouning as prohibited acts.”
According to the email, the college created two new positions in its Compliance Department to accommodate “ever-changing regulations” and ensure “Holyoke is a safe and inclusive campus.”
These positions are the assistant vice president for compliance and director of civil rights and community standards.
The College Fix reached out to the college’s media relations office for comment multiple times over the past few weeks, but did not receive a response. Lynch and Sullivan also did not respond to several requests for comment. The Fix asked for more information about the directive as well as the college’s consideration of its students’ and faculty’s free speech rights.
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Mount Holyoke describes itself as a “leading gender-diverse women’s college” where “students learn beyond boundaries, explore interests across disciplines and build skills and connections for a lifetime of purposeful leadership” on its Facebook page.
But American Council of Trustees and Alumni fellow Steven McGuire, who specializes in campus freedom, said the college “should be embarrassed and roundly mocked” for creating the new rules.
“At best, this new rule will lead to more self-censorship among students, as they will have to operate under the ever-present fear that they will be reported for sharing their ideas or asking questions,” McGuire said in a recent email to The Fix.
“At worst, it could lead to students being punished for adhering to their beliefs, sharing their views, or even for telling a joke or making a mistake,” he said.
McGuire also noted ridiculousness of the fact that the new rule bans making fun of the policy.
“It reveals a humorless and tyrannical impulse to control what people say,” he said.
McGuire expressed his frustration with the changes to Title IX, telling The Fix he believes the Biden administration would like it to be legally classified as discrimination to call someone by the wrong pronouns.
“People should not be compelled to say things they think are untrue, especially on college campuses,” he said.
Furthermore, he said the Biden administration’s expansion was a “perversion of Title IX’s original intention,” as it was “an attempt to compel everyone to agree with progressive gender ideology.”
McGuire also said he is concerned that rules like Mount Holyoke’s could become the norm.
“Fortunately, those changes are being challenged in courts around the country,” he told The Fix. “All defenders of free speech should hope these lawsuits are successful.”
MORE: Teacher fired for refusing to use student’s preferred pronouns wins settlement
IMAGE: Mount Holyoke College/Facebook
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