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Two employees at a Christian university were fired for keeping their pronouns in their email signatures, which they say was in keeping with industry standards and helps people know what pronouns to use with their unusual names.
Two former dorm administrators Shua Wilmot and Raegan Zelaya at Houghton University—a tiny Christian university in Western New York affiliated with the Wesleyan church—recognized their names are unusual. They added gender identities to their professional email signatures to avoid confusion, not as a symbol of solidarity.
Shua Wilmot employs "he/him" and Raegan Zelaya is addressed as "she/her."
To comply with a new policy for email formats that went into effect in September, former employer Houghton University requested they remove the gender identifiers. Both were dismissed for failing to do so.
In a nearly hour-long video on the subject, Zelaya and Wilmot defended keeping their gender identities in their signatures as a way to help people writing to them.
Wilmot explained:
My name is Shua. It’s an unusual name. And it ends with a vowel, ‘a,’ that is traditionally feminine in many languages."
Even though Houghton University said they were not fired for keeping pronouns in their signatures, the pair shared the contents of their letters of termination in the video.
"[The termination is] a result of your refusal to remove pronouns in your email signatures in violation of institutional policy.”
The reactions online were all over the place.
Unfortunately there were the many vocal transphobes who agreed with the university's decision, often using deragatory language about people who put pronouns in their email signatures.
Others tried to come up with justification for the university's policy and decision.
\u201c@nytimes Since it\u2019s a Christian school, putting pronouns on an email signature might hurt enrollment. I passed on a preschool because of this exact thing.\u201d— The New York Times (@The New York Times) 1684497612
\u201c@nytimes They are a private university. They are allowed to do as they please.\u201d— The New York Times (@The New York Times) 1684497612
Reactions also drew people familiar with the university.
\u201c@nytimes I've been to Houghton. This isn't a surprise.\u201d— The New York Times (@The New York Times) 1684497612
\u201c@mattxiv @HoughtonUniv Is this place even accredited? I can see a lot of information about \u201cgiving\u201d on their website, but I can\u2019t find a word about accreditation.\u201d— matt (@matt) 1682095297
Some alumni supported the former employees or didn't support their alma mater.
\u201c@mattxiv @HoughtonUniv Alum\u2026not a proud alum. Somehow I came out of Houghton more liberal than when I went in.\u201d— matt (@matt) 1682095297
Some focused on the reason Wilmot and Zelaya tried to keep the pronouns in their signatures.
And asked how to eliminate confusion in communication if anti-woke institutions are frightened by pronouns.
\u201c@mattxiv @HoughtonUniv How are people with unisex names supposed to clarify through emails at all? Firing for no reason\u201d— matt (@matt) 1682095297
\u201c@nytimes I\u2019ve had my pronouns in my email for a long time because I ALWAYS GET MR. Or Eric. I\u2019m a woman\u2026.it\u2019s not a big deal, but I can see people feel awkward when I meet them in person and they were expecting a man.\u201d— The New York Times (@The New York Times) 1684497612
\u201c@mattxiv @HoughtonUniv Y'all @HoughtonUniv realise there are gender neutral names out there like Taylor, Hayden, Aulia, Morgan, Logan, hence we need to write our pronouns there so people know how to address us properly? Right? You know it right? Since people enroll at your university to study?\u201d— matt (@matt) 1682095297
\u201c@nytimes Their unusual names would merit pronouns on LinkedIn and elsewhere unless there was a photo of them somewhere.\u201d— The New York Times (@The New York Times) 1684497612
\u201c@mattxiv @HoughtonUniv This is particularly erroneous because cis people also have non-binary names: Alex, Ali, Sam, Riley, Harper, Morgan, Jordan, etc. are all people who would also have a need for pronouns in their bio. It\u2019s just a helpful tool. Once again conservatives offer nothing to society.\u201d— matt (@matt) 1682095297
In the video the two former employees urged watchers to support change in university policies, but with civility.