CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story implied that Wellesley had changed its policy as a result of student demands. As of Wednesday, it had not formally agreed to accept biological women who identify as transgender “men.”
(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Students at Wellesely College—the historically all-female alma mater of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton—have voted to allow transgenders who identify as male into the school, Red State reported.
Though it was a simple student vote—that is to say, not a binding resolution—the college would allow applicants who call themselves transgender “men.”
The college had passed a resolution in 2015 opening the way for those who refer to themselves as transgender “women.”
The students also called for the college’s language to be more inclusive, asking that instead of the students being referred to as “women,” they should simply be called “students.”
Wellesley College President Paula Johnson found herself in hot water for refusing to cave to the students’ demands to fundamentally alter the more than 150-year-old school’s identity.
“College administration and the Board of Trustees have once again monopolized conversations about Wellesley’s community and future, conversations that should be led by students, who make up the majority of the College community,” said the school’s student-published newspaper, the Wellesley News.
“We also want to remind the Wellesley community that President Johnson is the spokesperson for the Board of Trustees, which must be held equally responsible for the College’s transphobic rhetoric,” added the editorial.
Despite the pressure, Johnson continued holding out as of Wednesday, but had softened her own liberal rhetoric to appeal to the angry mob.
“Wellesley was founded on the then-radical idea that educating women of all socioeconomic backgrounds leads to progress for everyone,” she wrote. “As a college and community, we continue to challenge the norms and power structures that too often leave women, and others of marginalized identities, behind.”
Nonetheless, Johnson’s remarks make it seem inevitable that she will capitulate to the impulses of crazed, college-age children of coastal elites.
“There’s been an evolution in our country, and we’re a microcosm of that,” she said.
“Yes, it is representative of a changing world and a changing conception of gender,” she continued. “It does not mean that Wellesley isn’t a women’s college and an inclusive community. Those two can live together.”
