Smith students vote for gender neutral wording

Smith College students earlier this month made a decision some might find mystifying: Although Smith is a women's college, the students voted to change the language of their student constitution so that the pronouns "she" and "her" would be replaced with gender-neutral terms. The vote applies only to student government documents, and not to official college publications, so none of the college's brochures will excise the female pronouns.

The student government vote is an indication of a deeper issue facing Smith College, and other same-sex institutions, which is that a growing number of students identify themselves as transgender, and say they feel uncomfortable with female pronouns.