UQAM joins movement to allow students to go by their preferred name

A major Quebec university is joining a growing movement toward allowing students to use a name other than their given name on campus.

The Université du Quebec à Montreal announced this week that its "preferred name" policy will come into effect next semester.

The policy will cover all non-official documents and resources, including student cards, university email addresses and the student directory.

Professors will also address students by their preferred names.

However, their legal first names will continue to appear on official documents such as diplomas, cheques and financial documents.

The school says about 100 online requests have already been made since Monday's announcement -- about half of them from transgender students.

A group that promotes LGBTQ rights at UQAM and that had pushed for the policy change is hailing the announcement as a long-awaited victory.