Catholic university tells employees to add preferred pronouns to email signatures

A private Catholic institution in Wisconsin has told its employees to add their preferred pronouns to their email signatures, according to an internal memo obtained by The College Fix.

Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisc., recently sent an email to its employees announcing “a few small but important changes” to its email signature guidelines “to improve consistency, professionalism, and alignment with our updated university brand.”

The guidelines include telling employees not to include image files in email signatures, noting they can not only cause many technical issues but also that “most image files are not correctly labeled to meet ADA compliance requirements.”

The email, which used the subject line “ACTION REQUESTED: Updating email signatures and profile photos,” also asked employees to upload a professional photo to their profile or use a Viterbo logo for hospitality and branding purposes.

The Sept. 2 memo, sent by Viterbo’s Vice President for Marketing, Communications, and Enrollment, Erin Edlund, also gave employees an email signature template to follow that asked them to use either the Helvetica or Georgia font and included a prompt for pronouns.

First Last Name (pronouns: list yours here)

Viterbo University

Title | Department

555-555-5555

Office Room Number

She included her own pronouns of “she/her/hers” at the conclusion of the same email.

The request caused concern among some in the local Catholic community near the school, with one email chain noting: “Viterbo University, a Catholic Franciscan University, updates their employee email signature policy. They now require that employees declare their pronouns.”

Edlund did not respond to The College Fix’s requests for comment.

Asked to weigh in on the controversy, Tom Nash, a staff apologist at Catholic Answers, a media ministry group about the Catholic Church, told The College Fix that Viterbo’s decision “is another bowing to the zeitgeist, i.e., the spirit of the age, which says we can determine who we are, not our Creator.”

“It seems like a misguided attempt at solidarity with students—and perhaps faculty and staff as well at Viterbo University—who are experiencing gender-identity disorder (GID),” Nash said.

But he added Catholic teaching is “clear that we are made in God’s image and likeness, and that ‘male and female he created them’ (Gen. 1:26-27).”

“There’s no reason why a male faculty member should add ‘he/him’ to his university email signature, or a woman faculty member ‘she/her,’ as those are self-evident realities—or should be,” he said via email. 

Viterbo University also sponsors groups such as a Pride Club and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Center.

The Viterbo Pride Club, formally known as the “Gay Straight Alliance,” creates a space where the LGBTQ+ population on campus “can feel seen, heard, and understood.” The club collaborates with drag shows in the local community and advocates for celebrations such as the Transgender Day of Remembrance. 

A 2024 Instagram post shows the group advertises a screening of the queer movie “But I’m a Cheerleader.” The announcement included LGBTQ+ symbolism such as pride flags.

The DEI group at Viterbo hosts a variety of events “to increase student diversity” and teach subjects such as “social justice” and inclusivity. It offers internships and work-study programs to students as well.

Nash told The Fix he believes “the university should reverse course on its ‘Pride Club.’”

“Students who experience same-sex attraction (SSA) should benefit from a Courage group established on campus, and the school’s related counseling should also conform with the Church’s teaching,” he said. “Similarly, the university should reverse its policy on permitting students to choose pronouns at odds with their God-given biological sex.”

MORE: Viterbo University cites Catholic identity to double down on DEI