Wellesley College Students Vote to Admit Trans Men and Nonbinary Applicants

Wellesley College Students Vote to Admit Trans Men and Nonbinary Applicants

Students at Wellesley College, an institution created to promote higher education for women, have voted in a nonbinding election to approve the admission of all nonbinary and transgender applicants.

Wellesley College proudly proclaims itself as a place for “women who will make a difference in the world.” It boasts a long line of celebrated alumnae, including Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright and Nora Ephron.

On Tuesday, its students supported a referendum that had polarized the campus and went straight to the heart of Wellesley’s identity as a women’s college.

The referendum, which was nonbinding, called for opening admission to all nonbinary and transgender applicants, including trans men. Currently, the college allows admission to anyone who lives and consistently identifies as a woman.
The referendum also called for making the college’s communications more gender inclusive — for example, using the word “students” or “alumni” instead of “women.”

A spokesperson for the institution said in an emailed statement that there are no plans to change the admissions policy due to the elections.

Wellesley College acknowledges the result of the non-binding student ballot initiative,” the spokesperson 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 nonbinary students, in the important work of building an inclusive academic community where everyone feels they belong.”

The college president had no intention of changing the current policies; the vote was simply a chance for the students to express their thoughts on the subject.

Wellesley’s president, Paula Johnson, who opposes the referendum, warned students in a letter last week that the results of the ballot question wouldn’t have any impact on the school’s policies or practices.

Johnson said the ballot was instead a chance for students to “express their views” on the controversial issue.

“We are not a ‘historically women’s college,’ a term that only applies to women’s colleges that have made the decision to enroll men,” Johnson wrote. “We have chosen a different path, one that aligns with peer institutions including Barnard, Smith, and Bryn Mawr colleges.

“In accordance with our admission policy, Wellesley admits applicants who identify and live consistently as women, regardless of the gender they were assigned at birth,” she added.

Of course, the student newspaper’s editorial board penned an op-ed accusing the college of engaging in…. “transphobic rhetoric.”

In 2015, the college changed its admission policy to really stretch the definition of gender. The current policies rely a lot on self-identification. However, if you are a woman identifying as a man, you are currently out-of-luck.

Wellesley invites applications from all those who live as women and consistently identify as women and who are prepared for a rigorous academic environment that challenges them to achieve at their highest potential.

“Consistently” simply denotes a student’s commitment to her gender identity.

Are trans men eligible for admission?

No. Wellesley is deeply committed to our mission to educate women and the College is proud of its history of graduating women who demonstrate the value of women’s leadership. Wellesley does not accept applications from men. Those assigned female at birth who identify as men are not eligible for admission.

At Wellesley College, a Fight Over Whether to Admit Trans Men https://t.co/HrgLmASMRr

This controversy is crazier than I realized. Wellesley already admits men who ID as women. Will it start admitting women who ID as men? That would seem like contradiction of trans ideology. 1/

— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) March 14, 2023

I’ve lost the plot. Students at left-wing Wellesley, a women’s college, have voted to admit trans men — who, according to identitarian orthodoxy, are fully men. What, then, is the remaining argument against just admitting students of both sexes/all gender identities? https://t.co/82FSnKBYmL

— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) March 15, 2023

While all the trans-based rules are confusing, one thing is transparently clear: Wellesley College is a great choice for those students who want to learn woke ideology rather than anything that could be useful, marketable, or meaningful.

One final note: The price tag for this experience is almost $80,000 a year. For a small fraction of this, a young woman could get training for a trade and make a real living without debt or insanity.

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