Take a look at a class roster at the University of Vermont. You’ll see the usual stuff there — last name, student ID and class year. But you’ll also see something else. Next to some names, there are pronouns: “he” or “she,” but also the gender non-specific “they” or “ze.”

They may seem like a few more words on paper, but for some students, like Jeane Robles, having pronouns on the roster means a lot.

“Just having the option to do that makes me feel like I can exist here,” says Robles, a graduate student whose pronouns are they/them. If there was a fear that a professor might use the wrong pronouns, Robles says, “I [wouldn’t] be able to fully be present.”

A decade ago, the University of Vermont became the first school in the country to give students the ability to enter pronouns into campus data systems. Today, UVM is not alone — at least 20 colleges and universities give students that option, according to the Campus Pride Trans Policy Clearinghouse.

‘I Can Exist Here’: On Gender Identity, Some Colleges Are Opening Up

Illustration: LA Johnson/NPR