Ellen Broido, assistant professor in higher education administration programs, spoke about “The Power of Language” Wednesday night in the Union.

Broido was asked by the Residence Life Diversity Community to speak about how language affects people.

Broido researches how students think about diversity changes and social justice. She deals with language because she can’t work with social justice without looking at words that people use.

“Language can be scary. People are afraid to say the wrong thing so they keep silent,” Broido said. “I encourage people to take risks. If you don’t take risks, you’re not learning.”

Broido talked about gender, race and labels in language. With each topic, she brought up questions for the audience to participate in.

Broido devoted a lot of time to gender. “Man” is meant to be universal among males and females in the human race.

She used an example from an article that was published in a newspaper. “The development of the uterus in rats, guinea pigs and man …,” the article said. This is an example of an extreme way people use the “universal man” in everyday language.

The lady/woman issue was also raised. This falls in both the gender and race category, Broido said. One student said that a lady is quiet and vulnerable while a woman is empowering.

Broido then went on to talk about how white women were considered ladies as a term of honor in the past.

Now, “woman” means power, whether it be economically, politically, socially or sexually.

People also use terms and phrases that can categorize or label a group of people, even if it wasn’t meant to be said that way.

One student even said that when he uses these terms and phrases and finds out that the person he is talking to falls into that category, he feels uncomfortable. But he can only imagine how uncomfortable the other party feels.

“When it is necessary to use a label, it is best to be as specific as possible,” Broido said. “Also, call people what they want to be called, it is better to ask then to call them something they don’t want.”

One student who came to the discussion Wednesday was Mary Ryan

“When I heard about it I thought it was to realize what other people think and what they feel is appropriate to try to talk to people in a way that they won’t be offended,” Ryan said.

“I still need time to process everything she talked about. Depending on what I come up with, I may or may not come to something like this again,” she said.

Jimmie Davis, a University student, was surprised by Broido.

“I thought it was just about examining words in everyday language, I didn’t realize it was going to be as specific,” Davis said. “I agree with what she talked about on how everyone is an individual person. I liked how she stressed the fact that people are individuals.”

Davis is currently in an education class that had a similar conversation about people being individuals, so it was easy for him to relate in the discussion.

“I encourage people to come support events like this. The only thing gained is knowledge, and it is a very powerful tool,” Davis said.

To clear up any preconceptions people have about speakers like Broido, she said, “I try to ask people to think about what they hear and say. I don’t say ‘Do this, don’t do that.’ I try to raise questions, which are less threatening.”