c6.1. It is never needless to say that by the time people reach an institution of higher learning, they are men and women, no matter how they behave. Any construction (outside of a direct quotation) that uses "girls" should and will also use "boys."
c6.2. It is also never needless to say that the use of the pronoun "he" in reference to a nonspecific class of people (A doctor does the best he can to heal a patient) is not acceptable. The easiest way to correct this is to use a plural construction (Doctors do the best they can . . .). When that is impossible, either use one, or he or she and his or her (or vice versa). (The forms he/she or s/he are too informal for use in official college publications, though there is nothing wrong with them.) Only use "he" (or "she") if it refers to a specific person (Dr. Marcus Welby will do all he can to save the patient and brew a fine cup of decaf coffee).
c6.3. Similarly, avoid use of the terms man and mankind to represent the species homo sapiens (the devastation man has wrought on this planet). Use humanity, human beings, or people instead.
c6.4. The term chairman provides a special problem in academia. Associated Press advises using gender-specific constructions (Elmer Frothingslosh was chairman; Margaret Drysdale was chairwoman) instead of the gender-neutral chairperson. Either form is acceptable as long as it is used consistently in a specific publication. A third construction, however, is working its way into common usage: Elmer Frothingslosh served as chair of the committee (note verb and preposition). That form is preferred whenever possible (also: department chair Elmer Frothingslosh; Frothingslosh chaired the meeting). [The purist argument that such a usage makes a person sound like a piece of furniture can and should be countered by pointing out that "chairman" quite often makes a woman sound like a man.] (N.B.: When using spokeswoman/spokesman, however, follow the Associated Press guideline and use the whole word, because "spokes" cannot be used as an active verb. Do not use "spokesperson;" use "representative" when you do not know the gender of the speaker.
c6.5 Use "first-year student" rather than "freshman" whenever possible. We still refer to the "freshman class," however. Do not use the dated and demeaning "frosh." Ombudsman must always appear as such: The term is a foreign word, taken directly from Swedish, in which the "-man" ending is not gender-specific.)
c6.6. Other constructions: letter carrier (not mailman); flight
attendant (not stewardess); representative (not congressman/
congresswoman); sales representative (not salesman/saleswoman); reporter,
journalist, writer, anchor (not newsman/newswoman); comic, comedian
(not comedienne), etc. Terms such as authoress, poetess, and sculptress
are archaic and regarded as insulting by most women authors, poets,
and sculptors. Repairman/repairwoman/repairperson is acceptable
("technician" still has a rocket scientist connotation attached
to it); businessman/businesswoman also should be used in specific
references, businessperson in general. Two occupations for which
gender-specific suffixes are sometimes used are waiter/waitress and
actor/actress. However, waiter/waitress has given way to the general
term, "server," and most women prefer "actor" to "actress."
Heir/heiress is the only general term still retaining same.