Students at a university that has historically served women voted in favor of allowing biological women who now identify as men.
The official website for Wellesley College noted that the institution "was founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant, who were passionate about the higher education of women." However, the university held a vote on Tuesday over a nonbinding call to allow applications from biological females who now identify as male, as well as calling for less gendered language in school materials.
This will allegedly not change school policy so much as be a declaration of the student population’s sentiment.
"Wellesley College acknowledges the result of the non-binding student ballot initiative," A Wellesley College spokesperson said in a statement released to the media. "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 nonbinary students, in the important work of building an inclusive academic community where everyone feels they belong."
The Hill noted that the college has caved to changing social sentiment before.
"In 2015, the college changed its admission policy to consider ‘any applicant who lives as a woman and consistently identifies as a woman’ for admission to the school," The Hill staff writer Lauren Sforza wrote.
The college's President Paula A. Johnson shared a memo earlier this March that walked a fine line between catering to modern progressive mores and still voicing a commitment to women as a group and those who defend such a concept.
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"It’s important that all members of this community feel seen. Some transgender male and nonbinary students whose identities have evolved during their time here say they feel excluded by the College’s use of the words ‘women’ and ‘alumnae’—and feel that their individual identities are not embraced," she wrote.
She went on to say, "At the same time, many students who are committed to Wellesley’s mission as a women’s college and who identify as women have been publicly criticized for that view and have felt pressured to describe Wellesley as a historically women’s college."
The college president also appears to have made some accommodations to gender ideology, such as voicing commitments to defending "gender- and sexual orientation-affirming therapy," "all-gender bathrooms," and even an "all-gender changing/locker room" on campus.
