Students at CSU Bakersfield now can specify their pronouns through their myCSUB portal account. This new feature will help indicate student’s pronouns to their teachers on their class rosters. Students can also add a preferred name that will appear on professors’ rosters when enrolling in classes. 

  On Feb.17, Claudia Catota, Director of Equity, Inclusion, and Compliance, sent out an email to the campus community which notified of the new change. The email also provides a step-by-step guide on how to choose your pronouns through myCSUB.  

  In the email, Catota also provided clarification as to what pronouns are and why the campus decided to make this move. 

  “Pronouns are how a person wants to be referred to in the third person. By respecting others’ pronouns, you recognize their sense of self and affirm the humanity of all members of our community, specifically transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, gender questioning, and other gender diverse members of our community. Using an individual’s pronouns correctly is a way to continue to practice inclusion and foster belonging at CSUB,” read Catota’s email. 

  According to a survey done by The Trevor Project, 1 in 4 LGBTQ+ youth use pronouns that are not “he/him” or “she/hers.” Provided that CSUB has an LGBTQ+ student population as represented by our institution’s LGBTQ+ network and other programs, this change is essential.   

  Allie Page, who is an opinions writer on the staff of The Runner and a transgender student at CSUB who is majoring in Studio Art and Journalism, is happy with the change. 

  “I think it’s very important since sometimes I would get misgendered by professors. For other people I know who are non-binary and use “they/them” pronouns, to have it on record [is important],” Page said. 

  Desiree Sams, Professor of undergraduate and graduate Psychology courses at CSUB who has a degree in Women, Gender, and Sexuality studies, agrees that this was a long-awaited move for the campus. 

  “We as humans have to be classified one way or another when we speak to each other…if we have to check a box, we want to be able to check that box that makes us who we are and what we prefer to respond to,” Sams said. “When I get the roster the first day of class I ask them what name they prefer and it often does not match up with what’s on the person’s birth certificate, so why not do the same thing with gender pronouns?” 

  Sams also commented on how this new ability will improve the overall classroom environment. 

  “I believe it will definitely help with the engagement and the learning if you know students’ names and their preferred pronouns. It just makes teaching better,” Sams said. 

  Page feels there might be a struggle in getting some people to respect this new change. Page provided some resources for the LGBTQ+ population to refer to if they are in need of support. 

  “There/s the LGBTQ+ network which I’m in, there’s Club Gen, there’s the Campus Advocate, there is the Alliance Safe Zone program, and of course, you could always file a complaint if there’s intentional pronoun misuse,” Page said. 

  For more information on how to select your pronouns, what the different pronouns are, and other terms that may sound new to you such as “transgender” and “non-binary,” visit csub.edu/equity-inclusion-compliance/preferred-names-pronouns.