A new feature on MySlice may seem small, but it represents years of policy-making and a step forward towards a more inclusive Syracuse University campus.

Starting this semester, SU students have been able to submit a preferred or chosen name to the university, which will then appear as their name in their email display names, on class rosters and on the Blackboard Learning Management System. Officials involved with the process said it was only the first part of what will potentially be a series of related changes in self-identification on campus.

“I hope that it makes us a more inclusive space for folks, people who again, maybe identify differently or have identities or experiences that are outside of the norm or mainstream,” said Tiffany Gray, the director of the LGBT Resource Center.

Gray spearheaded the preferred name policy along with Sam Scozzafava, vice president for information technology and chief information officer at SU. Gray said the idea to allow students to choose their own names is not a new one and had been discussed by her predecessor for some time.

Gray also said this is only the start of the policy’s potential. She said possible changes could include a choice of pronouns and non-binary gender choices on MySlice, as well as displaying preferred names in the directory, which is not part of the current policy.

“This is a first phase — it’s a good thing to do, but there’s more work to be done,” Gray said. “And I think we need to continue to do this for our students.”

Scozzafava said in an email that preferred gender and pronoun options are both future possibilities and that the university may increase “the places across its systems” where a preferred name is displayed.

When Gray became director of the LGBT Resource Center in the fall of 2015, Scozzafava called her to get her on board with the potential policy, she said. She immediately joined Scozzafava in talks with other departments on campus, including the Office of Human Resources and the Registrar’s Office, Gray said.

After three semesters of conversation and fine-tuning, Gray was notified that the policy was ready to be rolled out. While Gray said the process was longer than she would have liked, both she and Scozzafava said the wait was worth the time.

“The length of time between suggestion and implementation was largely the result of our intentional effort to be collaborative and inclusive toward bringing many voices to the table to determine the best way for Syracuse to implement this new self-service,” Scozzafava said in an email.

The main sticking point was the feasibility of the policy and how it would work logistically, Gray said.

Student Association was also vocally supportive of the policy from the beginning.  Keelan Erhard, the co-chair of the Student Life Committee in Student Association, said he had heard of other universities allowing students to choose preferred names before learning that Gray and her team were already pursuing a similar policy idea.

“I think it’s important just making sure trans* people feel more included on this campus and feel more safe,” Erhard said. “And that’s really why I wanted to see the university go forward with this.”

Erhard, a senior entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises and retail management double major, said he knows of international students who plan on utilizing the feature. Both he and Gray said they are another large community on campus who could benefit from informing professors about name changes ahead of class.

Ultimately, Gray said she hope policies like this will help make the university a more inclusive place for people of all different backgrounds.

“A preferred name isn’t necessarily a preference — it’s who someone is,” Gray said.

Published on January 18, 2017 at 9:53 pm

Contact Delaney: dovanwey@syr.edu