Smith College to accept transgender women

Mary Bowerman | USA TODAY Network

Smith College, an all-female college based in Northampton, Mass., will accept transgender women in the fall, the college announced Saturday.

The policy change comes after a year of study that included reviewing the college admissions policy and "society's evolving understanding of gender," Smith President Kathleen McCartney and Board Chair Elizabeth Mugar Eveillard said in a statement.

According to the statement, the Board of Trustees voted to clarify the admissions policy to include self-identified transgender women.

The college said it will not accept applications from transgender men who were born female, though students who transition during their time at Smith will not be affected. The college will make admission decisions based on gender identification or whether an applicant selects female as the gender on the application.

Smith Q&A, a student group in support of the policy change, said the decision does not "mean trans women will be admitted to a healthy, supportive environment where they can thrive." The group posted on Facebook that there is still work to be done to change "cultural attitudes about trans women."

The board's decision "affirms Smith's unwavering mission and identity as a women's college, our commitment to representing the diversity of women's lived experiences," the college said in the statement.

Non-profit advocacy group GLAAD welcomed the policy change.

"No person should be denied an education simply because of who they are," GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. "By opening its doors to transgender women, Smith College has joined a growing number of educational institutions that respect and afford equal opportunity to all women."

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