Viral post claims Fresno State professor requires students to state their pronouns

It appears that a Fresno State professor is requiring students to state their preferred personal pronouns at the risk of being docked points. 

Fresno State’s own policy on pronouns through its online portal, however, does not require students to state their preferred pronouns. 

Driving the news: The account Libs of Tiktok posted on X Thursday that Fresno State business professor would not give full points on an assignment if students do not state their preferred pronouns. 

• The assignment – for BA 18, Business and the Legal Environment – is from Aug. 21 and asks students to create a short video to introduce themselves to the class. 
• The assignment says students must state their name and personal pronouns to to earn full points. 
• Jones gives pronoun examples of he/his, she/her and ze/hir. 
• Ze/hir pronouns are considered to be gender neutral. 
• Further, last December a student posted on ratemyprofessors.com last December claiming Jones removed points from an assignment for not declaring preferred pronouns. 
• Jones has taught at Fresno State since 1987. 

Go deeper: Fresno State students can declare their preferred pronouns on their official student records online through the MyFresnoState Student Center. 

• Fresno State gives examples of pronouns that can be used, such as he/him/his, she/her/hers, they/them/theirs and ze/hir/zir/hirs/zirs. 
• Students can set their pronouns at any time, although the university reserves the right to remove a pronoun if it is deemed to be inappropriate, which could be a violation of the Student Code of Conduct. 
• When students choose their pronouns they appear on all Faculty Center Class rosters. 

Fresno State does not require students to declare their preferred pronouns, according to the Office of the University Registrar.