iT’s Time TO UpdATe The hAnd BOOk

It's Time To Update The Handbook

Delving into the outdated and exclusionary language of UPA’s handbook

ARTICLE BY EDITORIAL BOARD • PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY KYLA ULUG • DESIGN BY APRIL NGUYEN

From sexist language to a disregard for student mental health, UPA’s student family handbook is rampant with ethical issues that make it unfit to guide student and family behavior. As such, Aquila’s editorial board encourages the UPA administration and Board of Directors to critically review and update the handbook to better represent and care for our student body.

On page 25, under “Enforcement of Common Dress,” the handbook states that students who are unable to correct their dress to abide by dress code will be asked to call home for replacement clothing. This guideline not only instills in students that their education comes second to their presentation, but also disregards parent workdays. Unless for practical reasons, this level of scrutiny and importance should not be afforded to such a minor offense.

“If 'females' bully by exclusion, do 'males' bully with violence? How do non-binary students bully?”

handbook, of all places, is unnecessary and sexist, and should be removed or replaced. The handbook only uses he/she pronouns and avoids using “they,” creating an implication that students falling elsewhere on the gender spectrum are not welcome. Additionally, the word “males” is never used in the handbook, making the dehumanizing connotation of the word “females” all the more glaring.

On page 47, under suspension offenses, in order to warrant suspension, reported cases of sexual harassment must be “considered by a reasonable person of the same gender as the victim to be sufficiently severe or pervasive to have a negative impact upon the individual’s academic performance or create an intimidating, hostile or offensive educational environment.” Going by this metric, any random person of the same gender as the victim can completely invalidate their experience. The negative impacts listed, too, demonstrate a surprising disregard for the victim’s mental health—is sexual harassment only an issue when it results in lower grades or an uncomfortable external environment? We implore the administration to consider the internal and often invisible impacts of sexual harassment on the victim’s mental state. These are just as severe, if not moreso, than a drop in grades.

Ultimately, it’s time to re-evaluate. We implore the UPA administration to look at the handbook’s language and policy with a critical eye and revise it to fit UPA’s ever-diversifying student body.

On page 43 of the handbook, under examples of “specific observable bullying behavior,” it is stated that “isolation and exclusion of the victim is common among females who bully.” This section and the handbook as a whole not only include zero information about corresponding “male” bullying tactics, but also conform to an idea of binary gender that is not inclusive or representative of UPA’s students. If “females” bully by exclusion, do “males” bully with violence? How do non-binary students bully? The use of binary gendered language in the bullying section of the