Wellesley College students on Tuesday voted in favor of expanding admission eligibility to transgender men and nonbinary applicants.
Students were asked whether they agreed the prestigious school — whose mission is “to provide an excellent liberal arts education to women who will make a difference in the world” — should shift its admissions policy.
The Massachusetts women’s liberal arts college has accepted applications from transgender women since 2015, but “those assigned female at birth who identify as men are not eligible for admission,” Wellesley states on its website.
According to its gender policy, the college describes its student body as those who “live as a woman and consistently identify as a woman.”
Students also called for school administrators to adopt a more gender-inclusive language in the college’s communications — such as replacing the word “women” with “students,” and the pronouns “she/her” with “they/them,” according to a copy of the ballot shared with CNN.
Tuesday’s referendum, which is non-binding, came as part of the school’s student government elections.
Last month, College Government President Alexandra Brooks said she hoped the ballots would bridge the communication gap over gender-inclusive language between students and school leaders.
“I will say, from my experience, there is a disconnect between the student body and the administration over what students want, particularly the board, because a lot of them are older and it’s not a very diverse board,” she told the college’s student newspaper.
“[The Board of Trustees] represents a Wellesley from 50 years ago, which is very much not the Wellesley of today, even Wellesley five years ago is very different from the Wellesley of today,” she added.
Wellesley didn’t release the percentage of students who voted in favor of the referendum, but after the vote the school issued a statement saying there are no plans to change its current admission policy.
“Although there is no plan to revisit its mission as a women’s college or its admissions policy, the College will continue to engage all students, including transgender male and nonbinary students, in the important work of building an inclusive academic community where everyone feels they belong,” Stacey Schmeidel, the college’s director of media relations, said.
Wellesley has around 2,300 current students. Famous alumni include Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and Madeleine Albright.