Smith College faces federal Title IX probe over transgender policy
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An education watchdog organization is criticizing Smith College as the school faces a federal investigation for alleged violations of Title IX. Nearly a year after Defending Education filed a complaint against Smith College, the Trump administration announced its investigation.
Education Department In a statement Monday, she said Smith College allows “biological males” into “female-only areas, including dormitories, bathrooms, locker rooms, and athletic teams.” The Trump administration’s Office of Civil Rights is investigating whether the university’s policy violates Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
“An all-female college loses all meaning if it admits biological males,” Kimberly Richey, assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a statement. “Allowing biological males to enter spaces designed for women raises serious concerns about privacy, fairness, and compliance with federal law.”
Defending Educationa national grassroots organization focused on combating “harmful agendas” in educational institutions, filed a complaint against Smith College in June 2025, accusing Smith College of violating Title IX.
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Smith College was accused of violating Title IX by allowing biological males to access female-only areas. (John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images)
“Admitting men who feel like women means that what used to be one of the nation’s prestigious ‘Seven Sisters’ women’s colleges is no longer just for women,” Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president and senior legal officer at Defending Education, told Fox News Digital.
“Smith also discriminates against women by implementing bathroom and facility policies that open spaces once reserved for women’s safety and privacy to anyone who ‘identifies’ as a woman. This is a mockery of the ‘all-female’ institution,” Perry added.
Defending Education accused Smith College of discriminating against female students beyond biological males occupying female-only spaces. The organization stated that while Smith College will accept biological men who identify as women, it will not accept biological women who identify as men. Defending Education claims this is another form of unequal treatment.
Protesters oppose transgender athletes competing in women’s sports outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on January 13, 2026, as the court considers related bans in a landmark case. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
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College wellness center It offers “gender-affirming care to students across the gender spectrum.” This includes the use of an “informed consent model to initiate and/or continue hormone therapy.” The center offers a variety of services, including counseling, injection classes, sharps containers, letters and referrals for gender confirmation surgeries, and more.
Smith College announces it will accept transgender women for the first time May 2, 2015. The policy allows self-identifying women, namely cisgender, transgender and non-binary, to be admitted to the university. Then-Smith College President Kathleen McCartney and then-Chairman of the Board of Trustees Elizabeth Mugar Eveillard said that this change was made “in light of society’s evolving understanding of gender.”
“The board’s decision affirms Smith’s unwavering mission and identity as a women’s college, our commitment to representing the diversity of women’s lived experiences, and the college’s extraordinary role in the advancement of women around the world,” they said in a 2015 joint statement.
Smith College is facing a federal investigation for alleged Title IX violations related to its policy of admitting transgender students. (Brian Logan/iStock Editorial/Getty Images Plus)
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The statement continued: “Concepts of female identity have evolved since Smith’s founding. Smith alumni have become leaders in the movement to give women greater freedom of desire and self-expression.”
Despite the policy change, the college said it “will continue to use sexist language, including female pronouns,” in official communications.
Fox News Digital did not receive a response from Smith College in time for publication.
