Scripps students voted to approve a measure to change the language in Scripps Associated Students (SAS) bylaws to be more gender-neutral this fall.

Although Scripps is a women’s college, transgender students who do not identify as female currently attend Scripps. A desire for greater acceptance of all students on the Scripps campus promopted SAS to look into its gender-neutral bylaws this fall.

Of the 879 students currently enrolled at Scripps, 317 voted in an online survey that contained the proposal to change the bylaw language, among other SAS proposals. Of these students, 240—more than three-fourths of voters—voted in favor of the shift to more gender-neutral language.

The SAS executive board also voted on the proposal. All but one of the board members present assented to the change.

The measure to change instances of “she” in SAS bylaws to “the student” was first proposed in early spring 2010, according to Anna Salem SC ’10, who was president of SAS when the measure was introduced.

“We suggested this proposal because SAS’s most important task is to advocate on behalf of and represent students,” she said in an e-mail to The Student Life. “In order for us to be inclusive and for all students to feel like they can and should be a part of one of the only autonomous student-run organizations, we need to make sure that the language of our bylaws does not actively exclude and silence a population of our student body.”

Although it was proposed within SAS, Salem said the student body as a whole was also involved.

“SAS was very much aware of the larger conversation happening on campus,” she said, “and as representatives of the student body, we wanted to address this issue with the campus.”

“I think it’s a really good decision,” said Claire Murphy SC ’14, “because otherwise [SAS bylaws are] excluding part of the student body, and [transgender students] have the right to be recognized like everyone else.”

However, not all students were in favor of the change.

“I absolutely support and accept the presence of people with queer gender identity, but I do also think Scripps bills itself as a women’s college, and that it doesn’t really follow that gender pronouns should change,” said one Scripps student who wished to remain anonymous.

Salem acknowledged this point, but said she did not feel the change in language would go against Scripps’ mission as a women’s college.

“Scripps is and will remain a women’s college, but we want to actively challenge what that means,” she said. “We are not ignoring SAS’s mission or the mission of the college. In fact, we see this change as reinforcing our commitment to combating patriarchy through the cultivation of student leaders who continue to experience and resist gender oppression in all of its forms.”

India Mullady SC ’11, current president of SAS, pointed out that the arguments for retaining the female gender pronoun are not solely based on tradition.

“Many students find the use of ‘she’ in legal documents to be empowering,” she said, adding that this “might be the reason for some of the votes against the proposal.”

However, Salem addressed this as well, saying that while keeping the lanaguage might make some Scripps students feel empowered, it would come at the cost of excluding other students.

“An individual’s desire to see ‘she’ should not come at the exclusion and silence of others,” Salem said.

The proposal’s effect, if any, on broader Scripps administrative policy is yet to be seen.

“I’m not sure what impact this will have on the administration, but I know that President [Lori] Bettison-Varga, Dean [of Students Rebecca] Lee, Dean [of Faculty Amy] Marcus-Newhall, and others are aware of this changing dialogue on campus,” SAS Vice President Joss Greene SC ’11 said in an e-mail to The Student Life. Greene is one of several transgender students currently at Scripps College.

Salem believes the proposal’s passage has helped make the student body’s position on gender more clear to the administration.

“This change has informed the administration and the Board of Trustees of how students on campus feel about this issue,” she said, “and how we as a community are supporting one another and the direction we would like the institution to take.”

She added that the administration has typically been positive about implementing policy to make Scripps receptive and accepting.

“The administration has been supportive of working with students to create a more inclusive, safe, and productive environment for all students on campus,” she said.