Students at a woman-only private liberal arts college in Massachusetts supported a non-binding referendum on Tuesday that would allow women who identify as men and “non-binary” individuals to apply to the institution.
Student body officials at Wellesley College, which includes alumnae Hillary Clinton and Madeleine Albright, voted unanimously last month to advance the Gender Inclusivity Ballot, which would allow students to “express their views” on the 150-year-old institution’s admissions policy while making its language more inclusive to such students. However, school officials said the student vote wouldn’t have any impact on the school’s policies or practices.
The college already accepts transgender-identifying students who were born male, but the controversial referendum expands the application process for women who identify as men.
“We’re just asking the administration to put on paper what’s already true of the student body,” Alexandra Brooks, the student body president, told The New York Times. “Trans men go to Wellesley, nonbinary people go to Wellesley, and they kind of always have.”
