The City University of New York (CUNY), a public college system that includes 23 institutions, has forbidden faculty members of its Graduate Center from using salutations like "Mr." or "Ms."
In a memo from Provost Louise Lennihan, the school announced that as of this semester, professors should "eliminate the use of gendered salutations and references in correspondence to students, prospective students, and third parties. Accordingly, Mr. and Ms. should be omitted from salutations." Professors are encouraged to instead address people by their full first and last names.
While the school attributes the new policy to the legal requirements of Title IX, which prohibits gender discrimination in education, this interpretation of the law's requirements is highly unusual, to say the least.
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