All-Female Wellesley College Students Vote to Open Admissions to Trans Men

The student body of Wellesley College, a women's college in Massachusetts, voted Tuesday in a non-binding referendum to open admissions to transgender men and non-binary identifying applicants.

Details: Under the college’s application criteria, transgender women and non-binary individuals assigned female at birth are allowed to apply, but transgender men are not. Wellesley’s website states, “Wellesley does not accept applications from men. Those assigned female at birth who identify as men are not eligible for admission,” with admission restricted to “those who live as women and consistently identify as women.” The referendum also calls for altering the college’s communications to remove gender-specific language.

Key Quotes: In a statement following the referendum, campus administrators said, “although there is no plan to revisit its mission as a women’s college or its admissions policy, the College will continue to engage all students, including transgender male and non-binary students, in the important work of building an inclusive academic community where everyone feels they belong.” The Editorial Board of the student-run Wellesley News published a piece emphasizing the paper’s “unequivocal support for transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people — at Wellesley and everywhere — who enrich all communities they are part of.”

How The Media Covered It: Outlets across the spectrum highlighted generational divides between administrators and students. One Daily Wire (Right bias) report highlighted a Wellesley student who said being a women's college "is the core identity of the school, and we can’t start watering that down."