Terms like "freshman" and "upperclassman" will no longer be used at Penn State in the university's written materials.
According to Fox News, the university is replacing male-centric words with more inclusive language.
The decision comes after a University Faculty Senate recommendation in April.
"Terms such as ‘freshmen’ are decidedly male-specific, while terms such as ‘upperclassmen’ can be interpreted as both sexist and classist. Terms such as ‘junior’ and ‘senior’ are parallel to western male father-son naming conventions, and much of our written documentation uses he/she pronouns," reads the bill.
He, him, his and she, her, hers will be replaced with they, them and theirs or another non-gender specific word.
Freshman, sophomore, junior and senior will be replaced with first-year, second-year, third-year and fourth-year.
For students who are in school longer than the typical four years, instead of referring to them as "super-seniors" or using a number, those students will be referred to as "advanced-standing" students.
Related
Read the full document outlining the changes to the university's terminology.