San Diego State University has done away with its long-standing tradition of naming a homecoming “king” and “queen,” and will now hand out the distinction to gender-neutral “royals.”
For years SDSU students have voted for a “king” and “queen” to be crowned during the school’s homecoming game, but at this Saturday’s game, the Royal Court will end up with the “final two Royals,” the university’s website said.
The website does not make clear whether or not the selected royals will be one male and one female.
“During the application process, candidates were allowed to select gender-neutral pronouns to identify themselves,” SDSU’s Daily Aztec newspaper reported. “These gender-inclusive pronouns aim to dispel the common gender binary of categorizing people as solely masculine or feminine.”
The change has divided students. Some believe the decision is a symptom of a culture that has become too politically correct.
“It’s just a case of the PC police feeling the need to screw with an all-American tradition under the façade of ’progression,’ ” Jordan Dennison, chairman of the SDSU College Republicans, said Wednesday in an email to The College Fix. “Imagine all of the alumni at the game who are going to see that and wonder ’what the hell was SDSU thinking?’ “
But other students say the “royals” title is a much-needed change to make the homecoming tradition more gender-inclusive.
“We are lucky to be on a campus that is really diverse, and so I think having systems in place that reflect the students on campus is a really positive thing,” SDSU Women’s Resource Center Coordinator Jessica Nare told the Daily Aztec. “The reality is we don’t live in a gender-binary system and so really recognizing that in a public way is really important and exciting.”
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.