Students at a prestigious American women’s college are at odds with senior administration after voting to allow trans men to attend the school.
Students proposed to the Wellesley College board of trustees that applications from transgender men and all nonbinary individuals, regardless of their assigned gender at birth, be accepted.
However, the non-binding vote puts the student body at odds with the college president, Paula Johnson, who has faced fierce backlash for opposing the move and insists the college has no plans to change its admissions policy.
The college was founded in 1870 with the goal of providing a rigorous liberal arts education for women, and its alumni include former secretaries of state Hillary Clinton and Madeleine Albright, as well as former Chinese first lady Soong Mei-ling.
The college has 2,400 undergraduate students and is located on 500 acres of land outside of Boston. Tuition is more than $60,000 per year.
“Wellesley invites applications from all those who live as women and consistently identify as women,” according to the current gender policy.
Transgender women, who were born male but identify as female, are eligible for admission.
Transgender men, who were born female but identify as men, are not.
‘College has no plans to rewrite its founding mission
According to Ms. Johnson, the referendum would rewrite Wellesley’s founding mission of educating women, which the college has no intention of doing.
“The result of the nonbinding student ballot initiative is acknowledged by Wellesley College,” the college said in a statement.
“While there are no plans to revisit the College’s mission as a women’s college or its admissions policy, the College will continue to engage all students, including transgender male and nonbinary students, in the important work of building an inclusive academic community where everyone feels they belong.”
On campus, some students staged a sit-in at the administration building in protest of the position. The editorial board of the student newspaper stated that “we disapprove and completely disagree” with the president.
Ms. Johnson, for her part, claims that the debate has become toxic and that students are under enormous social pressure to support the referendum.
“I’ve personally been booed at public gatherings for referring to Wellesley as a women’s college, which it is,” Ms. Johnson said.
Elizabeth Um, president of Wellesley For Life, a campus anti-abortion group, said she chose Wellesley because she wanted to attend a women’s college.
“If you don’t think you’ll fit in here, there are thousands of other co-ed colleges in the country or around the world,” she told the New York Times.
“We’re a female college. That is the school’s core identity, and we cannot begin to water it down.”
