U.S. Department of Education Launches Title IX Probe into Smith College's Transgender Admissions Policy The U.S. Department of Education has initiated a Title IX investigation into Smith College, following a complaint filed by the conservative group Defending Education. The probe, announced on Monday, centers on allegations that the women’s college discriminates against biological women by admitting transgender students. The complaint, first submitted in 2025, claims that Smith’s policy of allowing students who “self-identify” as women to enroll violates federal law. Smith College, a 155-year-old institution, has admitted transgender and nonbinary students since 2015. This policy, which allows enrollment based on self-identification without requiring surgical confirmation, is common among U.S. women’s colleges. However, Defending Education argues that the college’s acceptance of students born male and its use of all-gender bathrooms and locker rooms contravene Title IX, the 1972 civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded institutions. The complaint references United States v. Virginia, a 1996 Supreme Court ruling that invalidated the male-only admissions policy of the Virginia Military Institute. Defending Education Vice President Sarah Perry stated that Smith’s policy undermines its status as a women’s college, arguing that admitting individuals who were assigned male at birth “mocks” the institution’s commitment to women-only spaces. She emphasized that the college’s bathroom and facility policies, which allow access to all-gender spaces for anyone who identifies as a woman, compromise the safety and privacy of cisgender women.#smith_college #defending_education #us_department_of_education #united_states_v_virginia #calliope_wong
