(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of Education opened a Title IX investigation into the girls-only Smith College after Defending Education filed a complaint against the school for admitting transgender males and allowing them into intimate female spaces.
Vice president and senior legal fellow at Defending Education Sarah Parshall Perry told The Center Square: “Admitting men who feel like women means that the institution – formerly one of the nation’s prestigious ‘Seven Sisters’ all-women’s colleges – is no longer for women only.”
“Smith College has a longstanding reputation as a women’s college of exclusive excellence,” Perry said. “But that hasn’t prevented it from falling victim to the fiction of ‘transgender’ womanhood.”
“Smith also discriminates against women by operating bathroom and facilities policies that open spaces once reserved for women’s safety and privacy to anyone who ‘identifies’ as a woman,” Perry said.
“That makes a mockery of the ‘all-women’ institution, and Defending Education looks forward to the outcome of the U.S. Department of Education’s investigation,” Perry said.
The Department of Education announced Monday it “opened an investigation into Smith College … for admitting biological men and granting them access to women-only spaces, including dormitories, bathrooms, locker rooms, and athletic teams.”
The Department’s Office for Civil Rights “will determine whether the college violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) by allowing biological males into women’s intimate spaces.”
The Department of Education’s assistant secretary for civil rights Kimberly Richey said in a statement: “An all-women’s college loses all meaning if it is admitting biological males.”
“Allowing biological males into spaces designed for women raises serious concerns about privacy, fairness, and compliance under federal law,” Richey said. “The Trump administration will continue to uphold the law and fight to restore common sense.”
The Department of Education has not yet responded to The Center Square’s request for comment.
Defending Education filed a complaint against Smith College, located in Northampton, Mass., with the Department of Education in June 2025.
As explained in the complaint and also evidenced on Smith’s website, the school states under the FAQ “Who is eligible to apply to Smith”: “Smith is a women’s college and considers for admission any applicants who self-identify as women; cis, trans, and nonbinary women are eligible to apply to Smith.”
At the time of Defending Education’s complaint, another FAQ was “What is required of trans and nonbinary women applicants to be considered for admission?”
The answer was thus as shown in Defending Education’s letter: “Smith’s policy is one of self-identification. The applicant’s affirmation of identity is sufficient.”
Smith College’s media relations has not yet responded to The Center Square’s request for comment.
