To: Jacquelien Scherpen. Rector
From: Janet Fuller, on behalf of the PF

Re: Request to remove gender discriminatory language from the promotiereglement

I had the honor of participating in three promoties on June 13th, and this was, as always, a joyous occasion – and three of them in one day! However, detracting from the pleasure of seeing young scholars succeed was the fact that the wording of the instructions given by the [acting] rector still includes wording about how men must remove their cap when they are seated, but women are allowed to leave theirs on.  In the spring of 2022 we had extensive discussion about this wording in the promotiereglement, and there were two articles in the Ukrant devoted to this topic, including an opinion piece by a gender scholar: (https://ukrant.nl/cap-rule-stays-for-now-text-will-change-in-the-future/?lang=en ; https://ukrant.nl/caps-off-women-keep-them-on-is-a-classic-example-of-sexism/?lang=en;)

To make matters worse, the version of the guidelines online actually reads, in the English version: “At certain moments during the ceremony, men must take off their caps. Women, however, must continue to wear their caps throughout the ceremony.”  Since this is even more problematic, I’m glad it’s not included in the instructions given to the members of the corona, but since this was admitted to be a mistake (see the Ukrant article on this topic), I am puzzled why this has not yet been changed. https://ukrant.nl/whoops-cap-rule-for-phd-ceremonies-was-supposed-to-be-optional/?lang=en 

I will reiterate my objections to this guideline:  First, we should not be categorizing people within a binary system of gender. Second, it is unclear to me why men and women should be treated differently when it comes to wearing and removing their caps.  Either we wish to have a uniform practice and everyone takes off their cap when seated, or anyone, regardless of their gender identification, can choose to keep their cap on – because they have hat hair, wear a toupee or a wig and risk dislodging it when removing their cap, or wish to secure their cap with bobby pins to look their best. Either these are acceptable reasons to keep the cap on, or they are not, but they should not be applied to only some people within an artificial binary gender system.

While the far more important issue of allowing all members of the corona to wear academic regalia is a battle for equality we have not yet won, it seems that we could at least resolve the matter of gender equality. But this text remains in the instructions given, and there are also an unnecessary four forms of the text for promoters – not just in Dutch and English, as is appropriate, but also within each language for men and for women. This is patently ridiculous.

It is embarrassing to have colleagues join us from other universities and other countries and to hear these bizarrely outdated rules being read aloud. It’s bad enough that we have to tell certain colleagues that they are branded as inferior and may not wear the academic regalia; to also appear as adhering to antiquated ideas about gender is really too much. What will it take to make this minor change in the regulations, which would simplify matters for all involved as well as avoiding tarnishing our reputation as an institution of higher learning?