Dear colleagues,
Yesterday, you should have received an email from President Holloway outlining a new chosen name policy and name change procedure. As of September 1, students, staff, and faculty will all be able to use their chosen or preferred name in university communications.
This is an important step toward greater inclusivity at Rutgers, and, as President Holloway acknowledged in his message, we have members of our union to thank for this. Last year, our colleagues Emil Lawrence and Britt Paris brought the issue to our union, and we worked with them to make a policy proposal directly to President Holloway. It took longer than it should have, but we’re very glad the administration has acted.
This isn’t the last issue of its kind that we need to organize around. The administration doesn’t yet have the tools to educate the community about the importance of policies like this, and our faculty, grad worker, and staff colleagues need their voices to be heard. If you want to work on organizing for the changes we need, email us at aaup@rutgersaaup.org. Please contact us, too, if you have any questions about Rutgers’ name change policy—or if you want your name changed for union communications.
In solidarity,
Becky and Todd
Rebecca Givan, President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Todd Wolfson, General Vice President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
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