An “intercultural” event held Thursday at Virginia Tech University (VT) asked participants to follow a blistering array of rules and expectations to make sure nobody has their feelings hurt.
The Virginia Tech Intercultural Engagement Center is holding a special kick-off event for the new school year. Despite being an “intercultural” center, rather than hosting a single reception, the center is holding 12 different receptions, each targeted at a different identity group. There are receptions targeted not only at black or Hispanic students, but also at the “disabled community,” military veterans, and students from Appalachia.
Besides subdividing its intercultural welcome into 12 different groups, the center is also requesting that attendees follow several practices to make sure nobody is triggered or has their feelings hurt. For starters, attendees are asked to include their preferred “gender pronouns” on their name tag, to make sure a person isn’t mistakenly labeled a “her” when she prefers “it,” “hir,” or “zher.”
“Not assuming others’ pronouns in a way to be inclusive of trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people,” the center said in a Facebook post. – READ MORE