University drops students’ initials in new woke drive

AN ELITE university has been accused of caving in to ‘woke cultists’ after dropping the use of initials in emails to be ‘inclusive’.

The University of York has scrapped adopting the first letters of forenames and surnames when creating official usernames for staff and students.

This is because of requests to alter names due to a change in gender identity, marriage or ‘difficult’ family relationships.

The university, whose alumni include Labour veteran Harriet Harman, will now use randomly generated letters with no relation to the people involved.

It will also not use vowels or the letter ‘y’ to avoid inadvertently creating names, profanities or offensive words – and has asked students to report any combinations they think should be blacklisted.

The university’s website describes usernames as a ‘unique identifier’, adding: ‘Unfortunately, basing them upon a person’s initials means that some people ask for their username to be changed when they believe that it no longer reflects their identity.

‘This normally happens when someone has changed their name – for example, following marriage or divorce, to adopt a Western name, to distance themselves from a difficult family relationship or to match their gender identity.’

The statement added that allowing people to change their usernames would be a ‘ long- term project’, adding: ‘What we can do now is improve the experience for new staff and students in such situations...

We feel that breaking the link between a person’s name and their username is important for making the University of York a more inclusive place.’

Toby Young, founder and director of the Free Speech Union, said the move was a ‘crackpot idea’. He added: ‘This seems like a parody of political correctness gone mad, the sort of thing you’d expect

to see in a Netflix series satirising the ideological capture of universities by woke cultists.

‘I still can’t quite believe it’s real. Wouldn’t it be simpler to just stick with the system they know and which everyone has got used to?’

The new approach has been implemented for students and staff joining the university after October 12 – and will not affect

those already studying. A University of York spokesman said the move was intended to ‘avoid any issues individuals may have on the inclusion of their current or future initials’.

The university sparked controversy earlier this year after students tried to cancel a talk by feminist campaigner Julie Bindel, claiming she was ‘transphobic’.