Mount Holyoke College, the highly rated liberal arts educational institution for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts, announced a new policy which will allow for the admission of any individual who self-identifies as a woman. The announcement was made by Mount Holyoke President Lynn Pasquerella at the college’s annual convocation.
In her address, which can be seen in its entirety in the video below, President Pasquerella states that “while we have welcomed trans students in the past and for several years have been in conversation with campus constituencies about how best to foster a respectful environment for all students – we needed a formal policy: one that would articulate our commitment to core values of individual freedom, social justice, and diversity and inclusion. We recognize that what it means to be a woman is not static. Just as early feminists argued that reducing women to their biological functions was a foundation of women’s oppression, we acknowledge that gender identity is not reducible to the body.”
The new policy was outlined by the college as follows:
The following academically qualified students can apply for admission consideration:
- Biologically born female; identifies as a woman
- Biologically born female; identifies as a man
- Biologically born female; identifies as other/they/ze
- Biologically born female; does not identify as either woman or man
- Biologically born male; identifies as woman
- Biologically born male; identifies as other/they/ze and when “other/they” identity includes woman
- Biologically born with both male and female anatomy (Intersex); identifies as a woman
The following academically qualified students cannot apply for admission consideration:
- Biologically born male; identifies as man