Purdue Gender-Neutral Homecoming Ditches King, Queen for 'Royalty'

Purdue University in Indiana held its first gender-neutral homecoming on Saturday in an effort to promote diversity and inclusivity on campus.

The homecoming honorees were selected at the university's game against Boston College but, rather than announce this year's "king" and "queen," the gender-specific labels were replaced with the more inclusive "Homecoming Royalty" title, AL.com noted.

Purdue University joins Penn State, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Iowa in creating a gender-neutral campus.

"Our goal is to identify the best students to represent Penn State without regard to their gender, gender identity or gender expression," said Ally Berdan, the Penn State committee's executive director, earlier this year, according to Fox News.

Purdue has been following in Penn State's footsteps and moving toward gender neutrality since earlier this year.

The university introduced changes to its popular online writing guide to make the introductory language "less judgmental and prescriptive," according to Campus Reform.

This came after the Purdue Online Writing Lab recommended students use alternatives to "the generic use of MAN and other words with masculine markers," such as "mailman" and "man-made," as these terms were considered "sexist."

Purdue University homecoming honorees were selected through online student voting as well as formal interviews conducted by a judging panel composed of faculty, staff, students, alumni and community leader seniors, according to a press release.

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