Students at the University of Michigan have the option of choosing which personal pronoun people use when referring to them, a list that includes he, she, or ze.
Provost Martha Pollack and vice president for Student Life Royster Harper emailed students and members of the faculty about the new policy, according to the Detroit Free Press.
"A designated personal pronoun is a pronoun an individual chooses to identify with and expects others to use when referencing them (he, she, him, his, ze, etc.)," the school said in a press release, according to the Free Press.
Ze is a gender-neutral pronoun that does not specify a person's gender.
If students choose a personal pronoun, that will appear next to their name on class rosters given to professors, the Free Press reported. Students can make the selection in the school's campus directory.
"Faculty members play a vital role in ensuring all of our community feels valued, respected and included," the email read. "Given that this process is new, we ask that faculty members review their rosters again in mid- to late October to give students time to designate their pronouns.
"Asking about and correctly using someone's designated pronoun is one of the most basic ways to show respect for their identity and to cultivate an environment that respects all gender identities."
Other colleges and universities have enacted similar measures. Champlain College in Burlington, Vt., for example, allowed students at freshman orientation before the start of the current school year to choose their preferred pronoun. And New York University had buttons distributed with phrases such as "Ask Me My Gender Pronouns," and "Ze/Hir/Hirs."
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