This post was updated Nov. 5 at 1:08 a.m.

A national free speech advocacy group alleged that segments of the UC’s online anti-harassment training restrict students’ speech.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said it is concerned about a part of the mandatory training that says deadnaming – intentionally calling a transgender person by the name they used prior to their transition, as opposed to their lived name – “‘may’ be considered a form of sexual harassment,” in an Oct. 31 post on X. The group called for the UC to “clarify that dead-naming or using the wrong pronouns can only be punished if they are a part of a larger pattern of harassment,” in a threaded reply on X.

Students across the UC system are required to take the Sexual Violence and Harassment, Anti-Discrimination, Prevention and Education training annually. Students who do not complete the training can see their accounts placed on hold, which prevents them from enrolling in classes or accessing recreational campus facilities.

UCLA Media Relations referred the Daily Bruin to the UC Office of the President for comment. Rachel Zaentz, a UCOP spokesperson, said in an emailed statement that the UC created the SHAPE training to comply with California requirements.

“State law requires training on sexual harassment and sexual violence, which includes recognizing all forms of sexual misconduct,” Zaentz said in the statement. “The training scenario on gender harassment is part of an instructional tool designed to create awareness, not a test question.”

Zaentz added that while all students are required to complete the SHAPE training, they face no penalty for whichever answer options they choose in response to the training questions. The training includes tests at the beginning and the end, but the tests only serve to assess the efficacy of the training, she said in the statement.

Students must answer 10 out of 10 questions correctly during the end test – which does not contain a question on deadnaming – to receive credit for the training, but receive unlimited attempts to do so.

“Students are informed that this behavior may be a form of sexual harassment, but they are not required to classify it as such when completing the training,” Zaentz said in the statement.

Ross Marchand, the program counsel for FIRE, said Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education – a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court case that held that conduct needs to be “so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive” to comprise “hostile environment harassment” – means that a single remark, like deadnaming, could not constitute harassment.

“A one-off remark is not enough to meet that standard, and if it was, it would give rise to a chilling atmosphere, and one-off remarks could be grounds for sanction, and I think a lot of students would be afraid to speak their mind,” Marchand said.

FIRE has not seen the entirety of the SHAPE training and has only assessed screenshots posted on social media, Marchand said. He added that FIRE plans to send a letter to the UC, which will ask for clarification about the training and to access the rest of the program.

“It is entirely possible that the rest of the training covers this ground, and the university system will respond to our letter saying, ‘This part that was not posted on social media speaks exactly to your concerns,’” Marchand said. “We welcome the University, if that’s the case, to just make that clear.”

FIRE gave UCLA an “F” in its annual college free speech rankings, placing 189 out of 257 universities.

The organization was vocal in pushing for UCLA to reinstate Gordon Klein, a continuing lecturer in accounting, in 2020, after the UCLA Anderson School of Management placed him on administrative leave for an email he sent denying Black students grading accommodations in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. Klein has since sued former Anderson Dean Antonio Bernardo and the UC Board of Regents, leading to a trial from July to September 2025. Klein is now awaiting a judge’s decision.

[Related: Klein v. Bernardo and UC Regents]

Tammy Ofek, a doctoral student in physics and the advocacy coordinator of Transgender UCLA Pride – or TransUP, said she believes student trainings like SHAPE are not “in any way a hazard to free speech.”

“A training that emphasizes the harm that could be caused by deadnaming and misgendering is not any more an impediment to free speech than a training that would tell us not to be relentlessly rude to each other,” Ofek said. “Misgendering and deadnaming – it is something that hurts and offends a lot of trans people – but it’s not a violation in the sense that someone who makes a mistake or slips up is ever going to be penalized for it.”

While Ofek said she believes the trainings are fine, she added that she would like to see UCLA communicate more concretely about anti-harassment measures, such as by hosting workshops and sharing resources available to students.

However, when it comes to UCLA’s overall student climate, Ofek said she believes the university “is at the tip of the spear” in creating a safe campus for its community members who are LGBTQ+ and come from diverse backgrounds.

“The work that UCLA is doing, and incorporating this kind of training into the general curriculum is a wonderful and positive sign,” she said. “We should look to schools like UCLA as a model that other schools should try to emulate when it comes to making a safe and inclusive campus.”