A Sea Of Red

UNC drops term ‘freshman’ in favor of ‘gender inclusive language’

By Oliver Darcy, on Oct 23, 2012

The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill has removed the word “freshman” from official university documents, citing as their reason an attempt to adopt more “gender inclusive language.”

We are “committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our community,” reads a statement administrators sent to Campus Reform on Monday.

“Consistent with that commitment, gender inclusive terms (chair; first year student; upper-level student, etc.) should be used on University Documents, websites and policies,” it continues.

A spokesperson for UNC declined to further elaborate on the university’s reasoning for implementing the language change.