Kennesaw State University pulled its logo from two LGBTQ pamphlets and removed them from a KSU website and the Kennesaw and Marietta campuses, reported Project Q Atlanta.
The alteration and removal of the two pamphlets – one on gender-neutral pronouns and the other detailing the locations of single-stall and gender-neutral bathrooms – from KSU’s LGBTQ Resource Center’s website was uncovered by the school’s American Studies Student Organization (AMSTO).
In a statement from AMSTO posted on Facebook, the group called for KSU’s president, Dr. Pamela Whitten, to reverse the decision.
“We believe that these resources should be made available online once again, and that Dr. Pamela Whitten and her administration need to come out in support of LGBTQ students broadly, and transgender students specifically,” they wrote.
The group said the school removed the logos and pamphlets earlier this spring.
The Sentinel, the campus newspaper that originally reported on the story, reached out to Whitten for a response. University Spokeswoman Tammy DeMel reportedly responded with a statement from K.C. White, the Vice President of Student Affairs.
“We deeply value the broad range of experiences and perspectives our students bring to KSU, and remain steadfast in our commitment to promote a supportive and inclusive environment where all students can be successful,” said White.
The pamphlet about gender-neutral pronouns, entitled “Pronouns Matter,” provoked national controversy earlier this year. News outlets, like Fox News and Campus Reform, reported on the pamphlets, leading to a wave of criticism.
Facebook users responded to a Fox News video on the pamphlet, commenting that they would never let their kids attend a university that “taught garbage.” Another wrote that the school should “have its university status revoked.”
The Georgia General Assembly responded to the criticism by holding a meeting where then Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Ken Harmon spoke about the pamphlet.
Harmon said KSU has “no official policy that mandates the use of gender-neutral pronouns.”
Rep. Earl Ehrhart, an anti-LGBTQ Georgia lawmaker, referred to the pronouns mentioned in the pamphlet as “fantasy language.” He told Harmon that university sponsorship of the pamphlet would be “problematic” as “there may be people who don’t find these pronouns appropriate.”
Ehrhart is retiring after 30 years. His wife, Ginny Ehrhart, won the Republican primary for his Cobb County seat and faces Democrat Jen Slipakoff. The election will be November 6.