Campus & Community

Important Updates to Legal and Preferred Gender Designations

Friday, September 13, 2024, By News Staff

Beginning this semester, Syracuse University students, faculty and staff are able to request their legal gender designation be changed to “X” to identify themselves as nonbinary, intersex and gender non-conforming consistent with state and federal guidelines. Additionally, beginning this academic year, students, faculty and staff will all have the option of identifying their preferred gender designation. Together, these changes are part of a broader effort to be welcoming to all diverse identities within the campus community.

Legal designation and preferred designation are two very different identifiers.

  • Legal designation is applicable to government issued documents, including personal identification and birth certificates, for example, and official university documents, such as transcripts.
  • Preferred gender designation, on the other hand, is for individuals who have indicated a preference, but have not necessarily revised their legal designation.

Students interested in making changes to their legal gender designation can access the Change of Student Information form [PDF].  Faculty and staff can use the Employee Demographic Change form [PDF].