Morehouse College broke with its all-male tradition by voting to open enrollment to females who identify as males. The historically Black college voted on Saturday to approve a gender identity policy, but the school will continue to ban male-to-female transgenders.
David A. Thomas, the president of Morehouse, said the decision to open enrollment to females who identify as males was in line with the college’s need to bring greater awareness of gender identity and to clarify the policy.
“We found that when our admission representatives were going out, oftentimes people would ask them, ‘Does Morehouse admit transgender people’?” he said, according to the New York Times.
The new policy states that “once admitted, students are expected to continue to self-identify as men throughout their matriculation.”
If a biological male student transitions to identify as female, he will be asked to leave the college.
Similarly, if a male-identified student falls pregnant or identifies as female, that student will be asked to leave the school.
Former President Barack Obama’s administration broadened the protections of sex and gender under federal guidelines. Public schools that failed to comply with Obama’s transgender policies were threatened with the loss of federal funding.
However, the Trump administration rolled back Obama’s transgender policies to define gender as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth. Those who have male genitals should male restrooms while those with female genitals will use female restrooms.
Morehouse announced its new policy a day after the United States military implemented its new policy for transgender troops. They are allowed to enlist as long as they present as the gender/sex they were “assigned” at birth. They are also not allowed to transition to a different gender while in the military.
Stock photo by Sarah Waiswa/Getty Images
