The College Fix

Only admits students whose ‘sex assigned at birth is female,’ ‘consistently’ identify as women

One of the few remaining women-only colleges in the U.S. has decided to stay that way.

Sweet Briar College, a small, private institution in Virginia, stuck to its roots as a women’s school when it recently updated its admissions policy, according to ABC 13 News.

“An applicant is qualified for admission if she confirms that her sex assigned at birth is female and that she consistently lives and identifies as a woman,” the college website states.

In a statement to ABC 13, the college said its leaders made changes to the policy in response to concerns that potential students might be confused by new “gender options” on the Common Application form.

The form is an online standardized option that allows students to fill out a single application and submit it to various colleges and universities. More than 900 institutions accept the application, according to The Princeton Review.

This year, the application began listing “multiple gender options,” Sweet Briar stated. “The confusion this creates for applicants seeking admission to a women’s college like Sweet Briar, necessitated a review of the College’s admission policy by the Board and administration of the College.”

Leaders concluded by deciding to continue the college’s “123-year commitment to only admit women,” and clarify what it means by “woman,” it stated.

“Since political and other influences now call the meaning of the term ‘woman’ into question, the College affirms that it understands the term in its historic and traditional way consistent with the intentions of our founder,” the college stated.

Some students were not happy with the decision, according to ABC 13:

On-campus clubs, such as the Student Government Association, took to Instagram to express their concerns with the policy, saying it’s transphobic. …

A student, who asked to remain anonymous, expressed their distress over this policy.

“We are now required to present as female and that is a bit of a challenge for students who may be non-binary, who may be transmale, who do have female on their birth certificate but don’t identify as a woman,” the student said.

Most women’s colleges now admit students who “identify as female,” a College Fix analysis found.

The U.S. has nearly 30 women’s colleges, but only three, including Sweet Briar, admit women exclusively. The rest allow biological male students who “identify as female” – including “transgender,” “nonbinary,” “agender,” and “gender fluid” – to enroll at their institutions.

MORE: Catholic women’s college reverses course, won’t admit men ‘who identify as women’

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