Smith College is a women’s college that was founded in 1871 in Northampton, Massachusetts. The college enrolls more than 2,500 female undergraduates from around the country and the world, but they also accept both men and women in their graduate programs. Gloria Steinem, a prominent figure in the feminism movement, is an alumnus of the institution.
In 2015, Smith announced that it would open admission to trans women. A survey in 2023 shows that 82% of transgender students that attend the school feel a sense of belonging on the campus.
Recently, Defending Education filed a complaint with the Education Department's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) against Smith. Vice President Sarah Parshall Perry states the school discriminates on the basis of sex-related programs that receive federal assistance, which violates Title IX.
"They have a gender policy that is LGBTQ-plus inclusive, but that makes automatic problems for the administration of the college when you admit men who pretend to be women, who identify as women, into your dorm rooms, your locker rooms, your bathrooms, your sports team,” Perry states.
Smith mistakenly interprets Title IX’s “discrimination on the basis of sex” to include “gender identity” discrimination. Perry says “gender identity” discrimination is not protected by the federal statutory law, putting Smith in violation of Title IX protections for sex-specific programs and spaces.
"They receive federal funding for grants for their research arm, just like Harvard College does. And so, even though they are a private institution, they, too, are subject to federal civil rights law,” Perry states.
She says the OCR can even put federal funding for Smith in jeopardy before sending it to the Department of Justice.
