Advertisement

Smith College admitting transgender women starting fall

By Andrew V. Pestano

NORTHAMPTON, Mass., May 4 (UPI) -- Smith College, the first female college founded by a woman in the United States, will begin admitting transgender women beginning in the fall semester.

Sophia Smith died in 1870, one year before Smith College was founded. She was the heir of a wealthy farmer in Massachusetts but had no children of her own. She donated nearly $400,000 to start Smith College shortly before her death.

Advertisement

Former first lady Barbara Bush and poet Sylvia Plath are alumnae of the institution.

"The Smith College Board of Trustees voted to clarify Smith's undergraduate admission policy to include self-identified transgender 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, and the college's exceptional role in the advancement of women worldwide," a statement by Smith College President Kathleen McCartney reads.

The college will not accept women who identify as men because "Smith does not accept applications from men." People who transition to identify as another gender while already admitted to Smith College have the "full support of the college and this includes transmen."

Advertisement

Smith's announcement follows a national conversation about gender identity partly initiated by transgender former Olympian Bruce Jenner's interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer.

"As we reflect on how Smith lives its values -- a commitment to access and diversity, to respecting the dignity of every individual, and to educating women for leadership across all realms of society -- we will be called, in changing times, to consider anew how we will choose to be a women's college," McCartney wrote.

The college will establish a working group to "develop a comprehensive approach to supporting transgender and gender non-binary students at Smith."

Latest Headlines