BUZZ
‘Gender or gender identity is based on a group of emotional, behavioral, and psychological characteristics,’ the school previously stated
The University of Chicago backtracked on its claim that gender is “self-identified,” removing a statement from its website following a media inquiry from the Chicago Thinker.
In one optional section of a form students must complete to sign up for classes, students can indicate their “self-identified gender identities,” according to the Chicago Thinker.
The section stated, “Gender or gender identity is based on a group of emotional, behavioral, and psychological characteristics that typically classify an individual as ‘woman’ or ‘man’ or ‘genderqueer/gender non-conforming’ or ‘transgender.’”
“Gender can be understood to have several components, including gender identity, gender expression, and gender attributions,” it stated.
However, the university has an institutional neutrality policy, which states, “The university is the home and sponsor of critics; it is not itself the critic… a university must sustain an extraordinary environment of freedom of inquiry and maintain an independence from political fashions, passions, and pressures.”
The school scrubbed the statement on gender identity from the form after Chicago Thinker Managing Editor Akshay Kirthi asked the school about the claim in light of its neutrality policy.
A spokesperson said, “The University is deeply committed to supporting students of all backgrounds and perspectives, and the option to answer a gender identity question has been included in the annual confirmation process as part of that commitment. The explanatory definition noted did not serve that purpose, and has been removed.”
This isn’t the first time the school has violated the policy. It also backtracked on its LGBTQ “pride” flag tradition, citing institutional neutrality.
Interim Director Ethan Bueno de Mesquita announced the decision in an email to the campus community in June, clarifying that it “only applies to the flagpole,” according to U-High Midway, the UC Laboratory High School student newspaper.
“To be clear, the full membership of LGBTQ+ people in the Lab community is not a contested issue. It is a core value,” he wrote.
UChicago also reversed course on the cancellation of an event in September, The College Fix previously reported.
University staff initially tried to cancel an Oct. 9 event with commentator Tim Pool, calling it “controversial.” The venue said the event would require extra security that wasn’t feasible and blamed organizers for not flagging the issue earlier.
Despite the fact that the school has long history of denying a Turning Point USA chapter, it was recently named the best school for free speech by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
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