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Wellesley Will Admit Transgender Students for the First Time

Building in Wellesley College
Aimin Tang—Getty Images

The elite women's college has a new admissions policy

Wellesley College will admit transgender students who identify as women for the first time in the next admissions cycle, the school said Thursday, making it the prominent third women’s college to make such a change.

“Wellesley will admit women who are prepared for a rigorous academic environment that challenges them to achieve at their highest potential,” the school’s president and its board of trustees said in a letter to the community after the board reached the decision Wednesday. “Wellesley will consider for admission any applicant who lives as a woman and consistently identifies as a woman.”

Transgender students who identify as men will not be considered for admission, but if a Wellesley student decides that they identify as male while at Wellesley, they will be allowed to graduate.

Mount Holyoke and Simmons also recently adopted admissions policies to include transgender students.

Read next: Some Small Private Colleges Are Facing a “Death Spiral”

Photos: 25 Transgender People Who Influenced American Culture

Laverne Cox Lana Wachowski Kye Allums Bruce Jenner Vanity Fair cover Caitlyn transgender Chelsea Manning Transgender Brandon Teena The electronic musician Wendy Carlos, formerly Walter, released Switched-On Bach in 1968, which won three Grammy awards and became one of the first classical albums to sell 500,000 copies. She went on to compose notable scores for films like A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and Tron. Since coming out publicly in a 2012 Rolling Stone article, the musician Laura Jane Grace has been a vocal advocate for trans acceptance. In 2014, her band Against Me! released the album Transgender Dysphoria Blues. Carmen Carrera Transgender Christine Jorgensen Billy Tipton Transgender The American public grew up knowing Bono as the daughter of entertainers Sonny and Cher, before he came out as a transgender man in 2009. Bono, who first came out as a lesbian in ’90s, has been an active LGBT rights advocate for decades, writing and making films about his experiences and using platforms like reality show Dancing With the Stars to talk about LGBT issues. Candis Cayne Lynn Conway Caroline Cossey Before she came out in 2014, the Serbian-born model was already blurring lines in the fashion world. As the androgynous male model and muse for big names like Marc Jacobs. In 2015, Pejic became the first transgender model to appear in American Vogue. Lana Lawless Transgender Fallon Fox Beatie went public in 2008 as America’s first “pregnant father,” undergoing artificial insemination after his former wife proved infertile. The transgender man captured the nation’s attention after appearances on show’s such as Oprah, setting off cultural conversations about the social and legal status of transgender people in America. He has since had three children. Janet Mock Mike Penner Renee Richards Transgender Sylvia Rivera Geena Rocero was already a successful model before she gave a viral 2014 TED talk in which she came out publicly as transgender. “All of us are put in boxes by our family, by our religion, by our society, our moment in history, even our own bodies,” she said. “Some people have the courage to break free.” Her advocacy organization, Gender Proud, works to empower transgender communities around the world. Jenna Talackova

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