Sweet Briar College, an all-girls school in Virginia, recently Students who identify as transgender are barred from admission.Quoting the founder's will.
The private girls' school, founded in 1901 by a bequest from Indiana Fletcher Williams, previously had no policy on gender identity. But recently, Common Applicationsa nonprofit that allows students to apply to schools on a single standard form, urged colleges to make their own changes.
Understanding the terminology [women] In a historical and traditional way.
The Common Application, used by more than 1,000 colleges and universities, now allows students to select “X” or “another legal gender” in addition to “female” and “male.”
According to Jenny Rickard, the nonprofit's president and CEO, the update “represents the next step in our ongoing efforts to create a college admissions process that is fair, equitable and inclusive for all students, regardless of their identity.”
in message Sweet Briar College leaders who arrived on campus said the changes to the application “are[ed] It’s a challenge for prospective students and for the administrators and staff who make admissions decisions.”
“Previously, the University did not have an explicit admissions policy for applicants who identify as other genders, instead addressing applicants on a case-by-case basis,” the university's statement explained. “However, this year the Common Application includes an additional option for applicants to select their legal gender, other than male or female, creating confusion for applicants wishing to apply to an all-women's college like Sweet Briar.”
“In fact, various portions of the Common Application currently include up to four gender designations,” the university added.
Sweet Briar College noted that it “holds the unique position of being the only women's college in the nation established by and operating pursuant to a will enacted into law by the state legislature.” The will of the school's founder, Fletcher Williams, “was enacted as the college's charter by the Virginia General Assembly on February 9, 1901.”
The school said the board must “respect the instructions in the will requiring the college to be a place for 'girls and young women.' This language must be interpreted as it was understood at the time the will was written.”
The university Inside Higher Education Although “political and other influences” have “called into question the meaning of the word 'woman,'” the committee “understands the meaning of the word.” [women] It will be done in a historical and traditional way, in keeping with the founders' intentions.”
Some students and alumni have vowed to oppose the university's declaration.
John Gregory Brown, an English professor and Faculty Senate chair, said faculty voted 48-4 to ask the board to rescind the policy.
“It would exclude students who are uncomfortable in that position … it would exclude students who don't want to be in a place where discrimination is codified in this way,” Brown said. Independent“I think it would be a financially disastrous decision for the university.”
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