Pronouns and tribal affiliations are now forbidden in South Dakota public university employee emails

[patzer]

If there is any place you should have a pronoun in your bio it’s in an email.

Like in I get an email from some named Alex Smith, Tracy Davis, or Sam Williams, and I haven’t met them before, I have no idea what gender they could be. It’s just useful information.

Not sure why there's a need to know that. I wouldn't know their race from their name either, but that doesn't mean people should start signing off emails with "(Black)" or "(White)".

[patzer]

If there is any place you should have a pronoun in your bio it’s in an email.

Like in I get an email from some named Alex Smith, Tracy Davis, or Sam Williams, and I haven’t met them before, I have no idea what gender they could be. It’s just useful information.

Not sure why there's a need to know that. I wouldn't know their race from their name either, but that doesn't mean people should start signing off emails with "(Black)" or "(White)".

Because using pronouns is a necessary part of communication. "Michael said that he wanted the project finished by the end of the week." / "Do you have Linda's email? I need to get in contact with her." The same is not true of race.

The standard practice in such situations is to use gendered pronouns if the gender is known, and "they" if not. It's something which people have always managed fine with.