It was stupid idea when Libs tried to insert similar pronoun changes/usages 40 years ago, and it is a stupid idea now.
It is nothing more than the PC crowd run amok. Their existence is based on change for the sake of change — because something offends them.
Stupidity is magnified with a major institution, such as a state university, jumps on such a bandwagon. The Board of Trustees should really consider a purge of administrators and faculty who engage in such stupidity.
I believe the theory is based on the idea that our language’s pronouns’ inate structure limits our ability the see or think beyond an individual’s sex—ie. as soon as we say ‘she’ we are referring to a female. This of course, explains the vile treatment women receive in English-speaking countries like the U.S.
The problem with this theory is that compared to most languages, English has very few gender markers. There is an Indo-European language that does feature gender-free pronouns—Persian or Farsi and we all know how well women are treated in Iran and Afghanistan.