(The Center Square) – The University of California system has rolled out a new harassment prevention mandate requiring all students to complete training that affirms transgender policies — or face class registration blocks.
UC’s SHAPE program – Sexual Harassment, Anti-Discrimination, Prevention and Education – requires students to complete mandatory training on gender identity and nondiscrimination policies.
The program is designed to uphold the commitment by UC for a safe and inclusive environment for transgender students and states that those who do not use the correct transgender pronouns create a hostile environment and are accused of harassment.
The SHAPE training states that a “hostile environment may be created when someone demands that others use a particular bathroom that does not correspond to their gender identity or uses the incorrect pronoun. Intentionally calling someone their name used before transition, as opposed to their lived name, is called dead-naming, and may be a form of sexual harassment.”
Students are required to answer questions correctly to pass their training:
“My name is Mona, and I am transgender. My classmate Jane continues to call me James, which was my name before I transitioned. Jane refers to me as a man and complains when I use the women’s restroom. I’ve asked her to stop, but she does not. I feel very disrespected and want this to stop. What type of prohibited conduct can this be?”
The answer to this question is “hostile environment.”
“To be clear, while students are required to take harassment prevention trainings, there is no penalty to enrollment, continued matriculation, or otherwise for choosing any of the options offered in response to the question regarding the transgender scenario,” a UC spokesperson told The Center Square.
Yet students must score 100% on the module’s quiz, which tests adherence to pronoun usage and transgender protocols. Failure blocks registration for the following semester, according to the UC Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity.
The SHAPE program follows Assembly Bill 2608, a 2024 state law requiring students to complete sexual harassment and discrimination training using updated terms and definitions.
The California Family Council condemned the SHAPE program, arguing it punishes students who disagree with mandatory transgender policies.
“When universities start treating disagreement as harassment, they stop being places of learning and become engines of indoctrination,” California Family Council Vice President Greg Burt said. “Silencing biblical beliefs about gender and sexuality isn’t tolerance. It’s tyranny in disguise. CFC will not back down from defending students’ right to speak truth in love.”
While universities are not required to use SHAPE specifically, all must implement a program that aligns with the definitions. Schools that have implemented them include UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Davis, UC Merced, UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley and UC Irvine.
