The definition of discrimination in the student handbook and staff manual at Elon University was modified earlier this semester to include gender identity. While the university previously did not discriminate on the basis of gender expression or identity, according to Brooke Barnett, faculty administrative fellow and assistant to the president, the phrase was added as part of routine updates to handbook and human resource policies.
"We update policies all the time," she said.
The change is significant, and increases Elon's chances of drawing a more diverse pool of applicants for faculty and staff positions, according to Kirstin Ringelberg, coordinator of the LGBTQ office.
Gender identity is distinct from sexual identity, she said, meaning it previously was not covered by the inclusion of sexual orientation.
"I think we tend to live as if those things are equitable but they're not," she said. "So adding the idea of gender identity and gender expression to the anti-discrimination language makes it clear that we're presenting a more complex and intellectually valid view of the distinctions between sex gender and sexuality."
The new language in the student handbook notes that the policy will be "equally applied to behaviors based on an individual's actual or perceived identity."
Some people on campus may perceive their gender identity to be different from what would be assumed of them based on their sex or appearance, Ringelberg said, and the addition of gender identity to the nondiscrimination clause offers support for these individuals where it may not have previously existed.
"I think that is something meaningful, " she said. "We certainly want to draw faculty and staff who are open to these ideas, but one of the crucial things is that it does is put into place policies that would support individual gender identities that may already be present on campus. There may be discrimination occurring on campus that people aren't even aware of because they think they can make assumptions about gender identity based on things like biological sex or physical appearance"