Students looking to minor in Chicano Studies next semester will be seeing a change to their schedule.

In a show of support for gender neutrality, Chico State will be changing its Chicano Studies minor program to the more inclusive “Intersectional Chicanx/Latinx Studies,” it was decided Wednesday, at an Academic Senate meeting

The name change is not just one step forward for the University. It’s two.

“One is introducing the gender inclusive ‘x’ rather than having the gender specific masculine ‘o’ at the end of Chicano or even the ‘o slash a’ that supports the gender binary we contest,” Director of Multicultural and Gender Studies Sara Cooper said. “The other step forward is intersectionality.”

Recent events around campus, such as last week’s “Performance of Identity: A Latinx and Hispanic Poetry Reading,” have also seen the switch to gender neutral terms in order to be as open and inclusive of all students as possible.

The proposed name change was originally listed on the Academic Senate agenda as an introduction item. However, as there were no senators voting in opposition, there was an immediate motion to suspend the rules and view it as an action item.

The motion passed unopposed. After a short discussion the item was brought to a vote which also passed unopposed.

Dan Christian can be reached at [email protected] or @DanoftheOrion on Twitter.