East Carolina University creates gender identity inclusive operating procedure to club sports

Today, East Carolina University’s (ECU) campus paper, the East Carolinian, reported that the university will now allow transgender students on campus to participate in intramural and club sports with the gender they identify with, rather than the gender they were designated at birth. They are the first North Carolina university to implement this procedure.

This new standard operating procedure will affect over 1,200 athletes on campus participating in 39 different intramural and club sports. The change came after a partnership with East Carolina’s LGBT resource center. Justin Waters, the Assistant Director of Club Sports at ECU, has attended the NIRSA Sport Club Symposium in June. NIRSA is a leader in higher education and the advocate for the advancement of recreation, sport, and wellness by providing educational and developmental opportunities, generating and sharing knowledge, and promoting networking and growth for our members. They are also a partner in the Campus Pride Sports Index.

East Carolina University’s club sports program also has a nondiscrimination policy that protects students on the bases of gender and sexual orientation.

Campus Pride is proud to have a university making strides in its home state. Campuses interested in creating similar policies, or determining how LGBTQ-inclusive their sports programs are, should visit the Campus Pride Sports Index.

To read more on this story, visit the East Carolinian website.

Allison Marie Turner is an alumnus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied journalism and mass communication and women’s and gender studies. She is a 2015 Programs and Communications Fellow for Campus Pride. Follow her on Twitter @amturner1993.