Imagine you are a trans or non-binary wowie with an ambiguous gender expression. It is your first time meeting your wow group and you are incredibly nervous. Your wow leader greets you and asks you what your pronouns are—relief. Your first impression at Cal Poly is that this is a welcoming space for trans and non-binary folks.

This first impression is so important, and the Queer Student Union wants to ensure it for all Wowies. Over the past few months, we have been in negotiations with WOW to incorporate more queer specific programing into their orientation, because as it stands, there is currently none. We finally reached an agreement that they would, AT THE LEAST, incorporate personal gender pronouns into introductions during WOW. This would be a huge step towards making the week more inclusive to trans and non-binary students. 

Now they have decided to go back on their word, and not incorporate the protocol into the week as a standard. 

We urge WOW to reconsider. We are not a special case, we are not what you call a "social justice issue". We are simply demanding respect and dignity for all Cal Poly Students. 

It should also be noted that we have a specific plan to implement pronouns in the easiest way possible, during introductions, and have already sent the powerpoint and volunteer presenters to WOW.