Kolkata’s Presidency University, a leading university in the city known for its progressive thinking, is yet again showing the way forward by breaking out of gender binaries. Presidency University Students’ Union Council (PUSUC) has decided to do away with the titles of ‘Mr.’ and ‘Ms.’ Freshers during Freshers’ Welcome of the University and introduce an alternative of ‘Freshers 2015’ so that the holder can choose ones title by ones own accord.
The suggestion to break the gender binary came through Monabi Basu, an undergraduate student pursuing Physics in the university, who refuses to fit into any Gender Role/Binary. Ze came up with this suggestion, to, as ze says, feel comfortable. Ze and Sayantan Datta, a student of second year, Biological Sciences, proposed the idea to the Union Council secretary. PUSUC gave its nod to it. Sumallya Mukhopadhyay, an ex-student of the University, says, “We are so happy to bring in a change we so believe in.”
This is not the first time that Presidency University has taken the lead in gender issues. The University was the first to introduce ‘Others’ section in admission forms, and recently also hosted the travelling LGBT film-festival Kashish Forward, which came to West Bengal for the first time through Presidency.
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