Penn State Will No Longer Use Terms Like ‘Freshman’ And ‘Sophomore’

Penn State University will stop using the terms ‘freshman’, ‘sophomore’, ‘junior’, and ‘senior’, in an attempt to be more inclusive.

Instead, students will be referred to as first-year, second-year, etc. The proposal, which was approved by the faculty senate, described the terms as “decidedly male-specific” and said terms like ‘upperclassmen’ can be “interpreted as both sexist and classist”.

The plan will also remove all “gendered and binary terms” from course and program descriptions.

Penn State University is making a major change for students in an effort to be more inclusive.​ https://t.co/6FKzZJaXIs

— ABC11 EyewitnessNews (@ABC11_WTVD) May 18, 2021