Starting this term, freshmen in need of guidance will go to the Dean of First-Year Students' Office rather than the Dean of Freshmen's Office.
Peter Goldsmith, dean of first-year students, said he made the change after discussion with the faculty and administrators over the past few years.
Goldsmith has been anticipating the change for some time and he printed business cards more than a year ago with the new title.
There is no difference in the office's responsibilities, only in its title, he said.
"It is about how I want the office to be referred to, no more or less than that," Goldsmith said.
Goldsmith discussed effect of language on our every day habits.
He said he feels women do not necessarily mind the term "freshman," but that it is sometimes important to think about how words function subconsciously in everyday life.
"To me," Goldsmith said, "the word 'freshman' suggests that the people who naturally fall into the category are men and that women fit in as an after thought."
The change in nomenclature demonstrates the College's commitment to gender-neutral terms, Director of the Women's Resource Center Giavanna Munafo wrote in an electronic-mail message.
This change "reflects the institutions' commitment to using gender-neutral language whenever possible so that women are not directly or indirectly excluded from any programs, ideas or initiatives," she wrote.
"It makes official a change that has been taking place over time."
Dean of the College Lee Pelton said he saw the "title change as something inevitable and evolutionary" and noted that it fits with other changes, such as renaming the freshman trips program the Dartmouth Outing Club trips.
