Smith College to Admit Transgender Women

The Massachusetts all-female school Smith College announced Saturday it will accept transgender women beginning this fall. The school’s previous policy had asked students to have consistently identified as female since birth, but Smith President Kathleen McCartney and board Chairwoman Elizabeth Mugar Eveillard said in the announcement, “concepts of female identity have evolved.” However, Smith will not accept students who were born female but identify as male. Other women’s colleges, such as Mount Holyoke and Wellesley, have also altered their policies to accept transgender women.