Under the new system, which will be implemented UC-wide, current and past affiliates can use their lived name and choose nonbinary as an option for gender
In a move towards increased inclusion, the UC system announced that there will be new options for gender identity and the lived name of the UC student, faculty or employee on UC-issued documents and in information systems. This means that individuals whose names are different from their legal names will be able to include this information, and their lived names will be the default on documents and within information systems that “do not require a person’s legal name.” Legal names that differ from lived names will be confidential.
Past students or UC-affiliated individuals can also “retroactively amend their gender designations and lived names.” The updates to UC-wide information systems in regards to this information should be completed by the end of 2023, according to the press release.
“Under the Presidential Policy, University students completing university-issued documents may choose from man, woman or nonbinary gender identification options,” said Karen Altridge, a representative from the Univeristy of California Office of the President, via email.
Altridge said the policy emerged as a result of collaboration between a number of different UC organizations, including the LGBTQIA+ Resource Center directors, as well as students and others.
“There have been significant developments in recent years at the campus and systemwide level to better support our increasingly [diverse] community,” Altridge said.
Written by: Sabrina Habchi — campus@theaggie.org