Brown University Refers to Accepted Female Student as 'They'

Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported on a letter from Brown University to a reader’s daughter, accepting her into the prestigious Ivy League college but also misgendering her — in the name of “inclusivity.”

“Oddly, the note referred to the accepted student not as ‘she’ but as ‘they,'” the Journal reported. This letter from Dean of Admission Logan Powell came after the reader’s daughter had been told of her acceptance to Brown, and was addressed to her “Parent/Guardian.”

The letter blatantly abused the English language in ways that would be hilarious if they were not so tragic.

Dean Powell’s letter also stated that our reader’s daughter had no doubt worked hard and made positive contributions to “their” school and community. Our reader reports that his perplexed family initially thought that Brown had made a word-processing error. That was before they listened to a voice mail message from the school congratulating his daughter and referring to her as “them.”

“We’ve read about the literacy crisis in the U.S. but would not have guessed that the problem extends to Ivy League administrators,” quipped the Journal‘s James Freeman. He noted that Powell had previously served at Bowdoin, Harvard, and Princeton, and that at Brown he would be overseeing a staff of 38 people.

It strains credulity to think such an accomplished administrator (and his 38 staff) would use plural pronouns for a singular person.

But, of course, the errors were intentional, as anyone familiar with the most recent LGBT activism could deduce. The third-person plural pronouns “they/their” are purposefully used to avoid “presuming” the gender of any particular person.

In the politically correct culture of transgenderism, gender is a personal and sacrosanct identity which may or may not have anything to do with biological sex. It doesn’t matter how someone was born, whatever “parts” they have, or what sex is coded in their DNA — anyone can choose from a multiplicity of genders and society has to appreciate him, her, xim, them, or whatever nonsense term a person chooses to make his or her personal “pronouns.”

Any failure to abide by the specific person’s specified gender pronoun requirements constitutes the grievous sin of “misgendering” him, her, xim, it, or them. In order to avoid this most heinous crime, Brown University has purposefully chosen to misgender everyone, so as not to appear to offend anyone. Now, that makes sense!

In an email to the Journal, Brown spokesman Brian Clark explained that “our admission office typically refers to applicants either by first name or by using ‘they/their’ pronouns. While the grammatical construction may read as unfamiliar to some, it has been adopted by many newsrooms and other organizations as a gender-inclusive option.”

How inclusive is it to automatically refer to everyone as “they”? Well, unless the man or woman in question is schizophrenic, or “identifies” as schizophrenic, or just “identifies” as multiple people, the use of the third-person plural pronoun is incorrect. Or, to use the up-to-date lingo, it is “misgendering” people.

Take this reader’s daughter, for example. “Mind you, our daughter has always been clear what her biological gender and identity is — she’s a woman,” the reader reported.

The school’s attempt to be “inclusive” actually alienated this potential student. According to her father, the school “wants to make it clear that only left wing extremists are welcome at Brown. Fine with us — good riddance.”

In this context, the Journal reader was even more alarmed at the conclusion of Dean Powell’s letter. “And now, as we invite you to join the Brown family, we encourage you to allow [daughter’s name] to chart their own course. Just as you have always been there, now we will provide support, challenge and opportunities for growth,” the dean wrote.

Colleges and universities have in the past adopted the position in loco parentis, “in the place of parents” in taking care of the young adults in their charge. But given the clear abuse of language in service of transgender ideology, the very idea seems downright creepy to parents who are not on board with the newly imposed gender paradigm.

Brown is not the first college to push for “gender-neutral” pronouns. Earlier this month, Hull University warned students they would get bad grades if they “fail” to use “gender-sensitive” pronouns.

Last September, Brown’s student body president announced he would be handing out free tampons — in the men’s room.

Soon enough, transgender dragon ladies and people identifying as aliens will be coming to your friendly neighborhood college campus. And don’t you dare refer to them as anything other than “it.” (Oh yes, “them” would also be misgendering the dragon lady as well. So much for “gender-neutral.”)