![freshman sophomore junior senior grades freshman sophomore junior senior grades](https://pushingenglish.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/englehart.gif)
These two examples demonstrate that the Penn community is flexible enough to redefine class year labels. They use the term “class year" or "year," so I quickly complied with the social norm. Once I arrived at Penn in 2018, I recognized that students don’t use the word “grade” to refer to their academic standing like I did in high school. This change in labeling also reminds me of how communities are beginning to embrace the singular pronoun “they.” Both Penn students and academic departments have increasingly and consciously practiced this cultural norm of asking for pronouns in people’s introductions. The symbolism of becoming leaders of the school does not need a “senior” label attached to it. While being declared a “fourth year” on Hey Day has a different sound than being called a “senior,” I think it can be normalized if a majority of students adopt this change. Of course, it is up to the student community on if this cultural change will catch on or not. If we want to be more neutral and inclusive, then let’s experiment with using different terms to describe ourselves, such as third-year, fourth-year and upper/lower-level students. We are beginning to introduce more neutral, inclusive, and contemporary language for class years that will be reflected in institutional programs and initiatives - for example, the new Second-Year Experience program.” In a request for comment, Penn University Life responded that “The University does not have an official policy on the terms used to refer to class years. The Penn community recently revised the term “freshman” to “first year," so why not expand it? This communication change would not be new for us. The system would make it especially inclusive of students who are on unique academic journeys, whether they are graduating in three years or spending an extra academic year sub-matriculating into a graduate degree program.
![freshman sophomore junior senior grades freshman sophomore junior senior grades](http://magoosh.com/sat/files/2014/11/fssg-hiat_img1.png)
However, I also value inclusivity and flexibility, and I believe that Penn should adopt a similar flexible labeling system as Drexel and Penn State.
![freshman sophomore junior senior grades freshman sophomore junior senior grades](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aAl_jJ4rTrI/maxresdefault.jpg)
Some people are uncomfortable with ambiguity, so fixed labels help simplify a complex world. We tend to use labels to lighten our cognitive load. One study found that students who attributed personality as changeable (both for themselves and for others) turned out to be less stressed in social exclusion situations compared to students who used fixed labels. Original Description: THEA 270 introduction to Lighting Design (3).Rigid labels can hold us back, whereas flexible labels may help us overcome stress. The proposal write-up provided this example: Instead of using pronouns like he/him and she/her, the catalogue would use pronouns they/them, except in courses where gender-specific terminology is required (for example, in a Women's Studies class). They are also shifting to non-binary language in course descriptions listed in Penn State course catalogues. We understand and respect that there are different viewpoints on these matters," university officials said. These changes have occurred at many universities across the nation. "The faculty senate's decision pertains only to changes to course and program descriptions, which are within the purview of the faculty senate, and not the Administration or the Board of Trustees. That language will be adopted in the university's course catalogue, which the faculty senate does have the ability to amend, but they do not have the ability to amend the language that Penn State uses as a whole. Instead, the faculty senate recommends using "first-year," "second year," "third-year" or "fourth-year" to refer to students. Terms such as 'junior' and 'senior' are parallel to western male father-son naming conventions, and much of our written documentation uses he/she pronouns." Terms such as 'freshman' are decidedly male-specific, while terms such as 'upperclassmen' can be interpreted as both sexist and classist. ".many terms in our lexicon carry a strong male-centric, binary character to them. The latest recommendation is part of that effort.Ī section of the Introduction and Rationale of the proposal reads as follows: Penn State's faculty senate approved a recommendation in its April 27 meeting to take the words "freshman," "sophomore," "junior" and "senior" out of course catalogue descriptions.įaculty senate members said they've spent the past year working on equity issues.