Mt. Holyoke Extends Admission to Transgender Students
The movement for transgender equality continues its upward climb as Mount Holyoke, an all-female school, announced it “welcomes applications for our undergraduate program from any qualified student who is female or identifies as a woman.’’ The brand new policy for the college also acknowledges a series of FAQs including a definitive explanation of their wording, stating:
The following academically qualified students can apply for admission consideration:
• Biologically born female; identifies as a woman
• Biologically born female; identifies as a man
• Biologically born female; identifies as other/they/ze
• Biologically born female; does not identify as either woman or man
• Biologically born male; identifies as woman
• Biologically born male; identifies as other/they/ze and when “other/they’’ identity includes woman
• Biologically born with both male and female anatomy (Intersex); identifies as a woman
The following academically qualified students cannot apply for admission consideration:
• Biologically born male; identifies as man
The change was announced by President Lynn Pasquerella at Mount Holyoke’s Tuesday morning Convocation ceremony. A release from the school quotes Pasquerella’s address, stating, “While we have welcomed trans students in the past and for several years have been in conversation with campus constituencies about how best to foster a respectful environment for all students–we needed a formal policy: one that would articulate our commitment to core values of individual freedom, social justice, and diversity and inclusion.’’
The advancement supports the Massachusetts’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s 2013 policy change that protects transgender students’ rights in the school system. The Boston Globe reported that the directives included “allowing [transgender students] to use the bathrooms or play on the sports teams that correspond to the gender with which they identify.’’
Mt. Holyoke’s policy also supports their students’ decisions throughout their enrollment, stating admission will not be revoked if a transwoman chooses male gender identity. School officials said they will work with students to use preferred pronouns and names on official documents, including college diplomas and records.
Within Mt. Holyoke’s list of FAQs, when asked why they’ve chosen now to make the policy change, they write: “As a leader in higher education for women, we choose to be proactive. We choose to define membership in a women’s college expansively, to be as inclusive as we can with respect to gender identity, while still fulfilling our mission as a women’s college.’’ Elle.com notes that Mt. Holyoke is the first of the Seven Sisters schools to adopt this policy, turning an eye to the remaining women’s only colleges, including Wellesley College, and whether or not they will chose to follow suit.
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