A recent encounter with a colleague, who “reprimanded” me for addressing a group of female students as “ladies”- reminded me not to make assumptions about the gender people identify with. I was advised to use the generic term ‘students’, when addressing those who I perceive as either males or females and not categorise students if I am unsure of their gender identity. This encounter piqued my curiosity about the buzzword ‘woke’ as I questioned whether my knowledge of gender terminology was dormant during that moment – which was awakened by a colleague. As a member of the EMS faculty’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, I got to thinking about the term ‘woke’, and wondered whether my colleague’s gentle reminder stems from a greater understanding of appropriate terminology to be used in the Faculty – indicating a degree of wokeness regarding diversity and inclusion. But then – what does it mean to be woke? What does it mean for us as a Faculty?

As the term ‘woke’ abounds in social media and other news outlets nowadays, I informally spoke to a few colleagues to ascertain whether they had any idea about what the term meant. I assumed that surely, if it is inappropriate to use the terms ladies and gentlemen and as a new staff member, my colleagues would know what the term ‘woke’ meant, or at the very least have heard about the term. Unfortunately, they had no idea what the term meant, nor had they heard of the term before. According to reporter, Benjamin Butterworth, being ‘woke’ to some people is being aware of social issues, and for others, it is used to spew insults. The terms ‘woke’ or to ‘stay woke’ started to appear in the 1940s and were first used by African-Americans as part of vernacular English to “literally mean becoming woken up or sensitised to issues of justice.” In June 2017 the term ‘woke’ was added to the Oxford English Dictionary as an adjective. It was originally defined as meaning “well-informed and up-to-date.” These days, in the main, it is defined as being “alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice”.

The Urban Dictionary on the other hand contends that “being woke means being aware…knowing what’s going on in the community (related to racism and social injustice).”

So, in essence, it means to be aware of sensitive social issues, such as racism and sexism, and any other “isms” in my opinion. We are continuously reminded to be “politically correct”, “socially correct” and the like, but are we as an EMS faculty ‘woke’? Do our policies and programmes speak to being ‘woke’? Are we as staff and students ‘woke’? Are we sensitive to the many issues confronting us on a daily basis? Or are we as a society in general just too emotionally exhausted to take onboard further dos and don’ts that stare us in the face when it comes to the right vernacular to use for example, when addressing anyone along the gender spectrum?

I appreciated my colleague for ‘awakening’ my consciousness of inclusivity at that particular moment. As our policies become more transformative to foster inclusivity, we need to stay woke in our daily activities and be constantly conscious of issues pertaining to diversity and inclusion. We can only steer change when we implement our policies and apply them daily. My question to you now is – are you woke? If not, perhaps now is the time to reflect and evaluate your transformation consciousness to contribute to embracing diversity and enhancing inclusion in the UP community.

​Below are some of UP policies related to anti-discrimination and gender identity:

Dr Rozenda Hendrickse, is a member of the EMS Diversity and Inclusion Committee and a senior lecturer in the School of Public Management and Administration.