TU celebrates International Pronouns Day

Towson University introduces new pronoun pins, workshops and programs to help celebrate all the identities on campus

By Kyle Hobstetter on October 15, 2019

Towson University Pronoun Pins

Since its inaugural year in 2018, International Pronouns Day has sought to make sharing, respecting and educating about personal pronouns a commonplace in the modern world. 

Held every third Wednesday in October, this year’s International Pronouns Day takes places on Wednesday, Oct. 16 and sees individuals and groups participate in grassroots activities that celebrate a person’s multiple and intersecting identities. 

Towson University is ready to celebrate International Pronouns Day and its diverse campus population, by introducing new pronoun pins. These new, Towson University-inspired pins, allows campus community members to proudly share their pronouns.

The pins were produced through a partnership between the Office of Inclusion and Institutional Equity (OIIE) and the Center for Student Diversity (CSD), and can be picked up in their offices located in the Administration Building and the University Union, respectively.

“I’m wearing my pin on International Pronoun Day,” President Schatzel said. “Today and every day, I encourage everyone in our TU community to raise awareness and respect for all identities — and the importance of a sense of belonging for all members of our community.”

Along with the new pins, many offices and organizations around campus are producing Instagram videos that allow them to share their pronouns in honor of International Pronouns Day.

Students, faculty, staff and other organizations can produce their own International Pronouns Day videos by posting it to their Instagram, and then tagging Towson University and using the hashtag: #TUproud.

Along with sharing the videos, Towson University will also be providing special programming and workshops on International Pronouns Day. CSD will be offering a cultural competency workshop on pronouns that is open to the entire campus. The workshop starts at 12:30 p.m. and takes place in CSD’s Unity Lounge in the University Union, Room 313.

Learn more: Pronouns Matter at TU

Student organizations and CSD will also be tabling in Freedom Square during the afternoon, and will feature activities, candy, pronoun pins, stickers and more that will help in educating campus about proper pronoun use.

But these activities don’t stop on International Pronouns Day. OIIE and CSD will also be offering training programs throughout the year on the importance of understanding pronouns and using them. Any organizations or students can participate in the training program, and registration is now open

With these events, programs and training modules, Towson University is hoping to help make it easier for the campus community to remain educated about respecting others’ personal pronouns.

“We want to be in a habit of creating an inclusive environment and bringing attention, awareness and education to this subject,” says Erin Rook, assistant director, Student Development and Diversity. “We recognize that some are going to take more time than others, to get used to this and folks are going to make mistakes, and that’s fine.

“That’s why we’re doing this, to educate our campus community on the right way to be respectful to other people’s identities.”

This story is one of several related to President Kim Schatzel’s priorities for Towson University: Diverse and Inclusive Campus.