Spelman Now Admits Transgender Women in Fall 2018

As of Tuesday, September 5, 2017, Spelman President Mary Schmidt, Campbell sent a letter to the students announcing the Historically Black College for women updated their admission policy to admitting transgender women starting in the Fall 2018.
Last year Spelman’s president announced they are considering admitting transgender women. Campbell assembled a task force to get recommendations on possibly updating the school policy to begin accepting transgender students.
Transgender describes a person that identifies themselves as a gender other than what they were assigned at birth.
Campbell explained the shift of the policy in the letter stating “Spelman College, a Historically Black College whose mission is to serve high-achieving black women will consider for admission women students including students who consistently live and self-identify as women, regardless of their gender assignment at birth. If a woman is admitted and transitions to male while a student at Spelman, the college will permit that student to continue to matriculate through and graduate from Spelman.”
The letter went on pointing out that the school is still about sisterhood stating, “In adopting this admissions policy, Spelman continues its fervent belief in the power of the Spelman Sisterhood. Students who choose Spelman come to our campus prepared to participate in a women’s college that is academically and intellectually rigorous, and affirms its core mission as the education and development of high-achieving Black women.”
The letter also went on to answer frequently asked questions mainly addressing concerns about housing arrangements and noting that transgender males will not be admitted into Spelman.
Many black women among the LGBT community rejoiced at the policy change at Spelman over the school’s Facebook page. Most positive comments coming from Spelman’s Alumni and students themselves; however, not all people agreed with the fact the Spelman will accept men who identify as women but won’t accept women who identify as male.
The Atlanta based school isn’t the only all-female college to accept transgender women. In August 2014, Mills College became the first female college to admit transgender women. Since then at least nine other female colleges have changed their policies to welcome transgender women.
In 2015, Wellesley, Smith, Bryn Mawr and Bernard colleges have changed their policies. This Fall Wellesley welcomed its very first transgender student named, Ninotska Love.
Mount Holyoke College, a women’s college located in western Massachusetts, and also the second college to admit transgender women, is the only all-female college to accept both transgender men and women.
Not all single sex schools have followed suit with changing their admissions policy to suit transgenders.
Hollins University, an all-female college in Virginia, stated they’ll only accept trans women if they have legal and surgical documentation of them transitioning from male to female.
As one of the oldest predominantly female HBCUs, this change has been noted as historical.
Spelman will start admitting transgender women into the University next fall for the 2018-2019 school year.