It makes sense, at a time when trans girls and women understand their gender identity at earlier and earlier ages, that college admissions policies at women’s colleges would start to take that into account. Last week, Barnard College joined the growing list of women’s colleges that not only specifically address trans women in their admissions policy by allowing them admission, but also address trans and genderqueer people in general.
Barnard will now admit students who “consistently live and identify as women, regardless of the gender assigned to them at birth.” Trans men who begin to identify as such and transition while already students at Barnard will be allowed to complete their degrees, however, trans boys and men who identify as such at the time they apply will not be able to attend. Likewise genderqueer students who don’t identify as either gender (or identify as both), regardless of how they were assigned at birth.
It’s interesting that it’s taken them this long to spell it out. Especially since Barnard already has a trans woman on its staff. As reported by Jezebel, Barnard English professor, Jennifer Finney Boylan, who happens to be a trans woman, said that:
Gender is at the center of a women’s college experience in a way that it’s not at a coeducational school. So if you’re a young trans person trying to figure out who you are, and struggling with gender throughout your whole life, of course you’d come to one of these schools, because it’s going to help you figure out who you are.
While their stance on trans men and trans women makes sense to me, their policy on genderqueer students is less clear. After all, if the purpose of a women’s college is to provide a safe learning environment in which people who’ve faced gender-based disadvantages can thrive, wouldn’t it make sense to include genderqueer people as part of that experience? Then again, trans men also share some of their experiences.
What do you think of Barnard’s policy? For that matter, what do you think of the concept of women’s colleges in general? How necessary or beneficial are they? Tell us in the comments!
(Image via Forgemind ArchiMedia on Flickr)
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