On Monday, the University of Waterloo added the ability to set pronouns on Quest. This initiative is one of many equity-related plans the university has put in place to create an inclusive environment, and was developed in collaboration with the Registrar’s Office, graduate studies and postdoctoral affairs, and the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Office (EDI-RO).
In order to facilitate the usage of pronouns across all platforms, the university is also working to update pronoun information on other systems on campus, like LEARN and WaterlooWorks. Students, staff and faculty members have started receiving emails notifying them of this change.
“I think the pronoun update is pretty cool as long as it’s easy to update, there is an option to opt out and not have pronouns show, and the pronouns actually appear in the systems like automated emails and people emailing you can see them,” said Kass Makarenko, a 3B psychology student. “I would like to see more changes like this, as long as they’re actually integrated with effort and not just sitting there unused.”
In a survey conducted by Imprint on Instagram, 24% of students reported having already added their pronouns. UW is also undertaking other equity-related projects including the inclusive washrooms initiative and the menstrual equity project.
