Sweet Briar College, a private women’s liberal arts college outside Amherst, Virginia, has adopted a revised admissions policy that bars transgender women from admission.
The revised policy, adopted last month, stems from the legally binding will of Sweet Briar founder Indiana Fletcher Williams, who died in 1900. The college, which currently has about 460 students (nicknamed the “Vixens” because its mascot is a female fox), is located on Williams’ former plantation and began admitting students in 1906.
According to the university, Williams’ will stated that he intended the school to be a place for the “education of white girls and young women.”
After the Civil Rights Act of 1964, colleges and universities had to get permission from a federal judge to admit black students.
Sweet Briar College President Mary Pope Hutson and Sweet Briar Institute President Mason Bennett Rummel argued that references to “girls” and “women” in Williams’ will “must be interpreted as they were understood at the time the will was written.”
So the school’s new policy, which will begin with next year’s intake, requires applicants to confirm that their assigned sex at birth was female and that they “consistently live and identify as women.”
This could call into question the status of transgender men and non-binary people who were identified as female at birth and who already attend Sweet Briar.
“Sweet Briar College believes that single-sex education is not only a tradition, but also a unique cultural and social resource,” said President Mary Pope Hutson. Associated Press In a statement.
Previously, Sweet Briar did not have a state transgender admissions policy and handled students’ applications individually.
The new admissions guidelines have been criticized by both students and faculty, who have expressed concern about further restricting college admissions at a time when many girls’ schools are closed.
Sweet Briar was on the verge of closing due to financial difficulties in 2015 but was saved by support from former students. Over $21 million raised It promised to continue operations.
Other critics have questioned the school’s adherence to a strict interpretation of the will that explicitly forbade the admission of non-white students, which would be considered unacceptable by today’s standards.
John Gregory Brown, professor of English and chair of the faculty senate, noted that Williams would never have allowed certain classes or groups of people, such as people with disabilities, to attend the college.
brown He told the Associated Press The policy could drive away liberal-minded students who see the university’s admissions policies as discriminatory, ultimately making it difficult for the university to survive.
“It would exclude students who are uncomfortable with this position, students who don’t want to be in a place where discrimination is codified in this way,” he said. “I think it would be a financially devastating decision for the university.”
On Aug. 10, Sweet Briar College’s student government denounced the policy as “alienating” and “unnecessary,” adding that the board’s latest order “reflects the rise of transphobia in our country.”
SGA president Isabella Paul, a senior who identifies as nonbinary, told The Associated Press that at least 10 percent of students at the small college use pronouns other than female or do not match the policy’s definition of what constitutes a woman.
“And we have colleagues here who identify as women, but who have friends, partners, and family members who are non-binary, genderqueer, or trans,” Paul added, “so this impacts their pride in the organization.”
When asked by The Associated Press how the policy would apply to returning students who do not specifically identify or look female, including those whose clothing or hairstyles violate gender stereotypes, Hutson avoided the question.
“[The school tries] “It’s about trying to make all students feel welcome on campus,” she said.
While Hutson acknowledged that at least one trustee has resigned over the policy and that both sides of the debate “care deeply about the future of the college,” she said many alumni want Sweet Briar to “remain a place where women can thrive and have a broader vision for the college.” [admissions] This policy is a dangerous path to coeducation.”
On Aug. 26, faculty voted 48-4, with one abstention, to ask the board to reverse the new admissions policy.
Brown, speaking on behalf of the Faculty Senate, said many professors believe the policy is discriminatory and are shocked by the Board of Trustees’ decision to adopt the new admissions policy without consulting them.
Some worry that a strict interpretation of the admissions policy could lead to the expulsion or forced transfer of existing students, or expose the school to lawsuits from current students who do not conform to gender stereotypes and therefore do not meet Williams’ definition of a “woman.”
“This policy will actually exclude many of the students who are already enrolled,” Brown told the Lynchburg-based ABC affiliate. World Set“I understand that many of them would not have been accepted under this policy, so to say to someone, ‘OK, you can stay here for now, but we don’t want people like you anymore,’ is a terrible thing.”
President Hutson released the following statement to WSET: “The Sweet Briar College Board of Trustees sets admissions policies and the College has nothing further to add.”
There were more than 200 women’s colleges in the United States in the 1960s, but they gradually disappeared as more students chose larger public or private coeducational institutions, and today there are only about 30. Falling enrollment prompted some women’s colleges to begin admitting transgender women about a decade ago.
According to Associated PressTwenty-three historically women’s colleges and universities now have policies that admit at least some transgender students, but three, including Sweet Briar, ban transgender students from attending.
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
