Historic women’s college faces government investigation for admitting trans students

Smith College is facing a government investigation for admitting transgender students to the historic women’s institution.

President Donald Trump’s Department of Education announced Monday it has opened a probe into the Massachusetts college for allowing trans women to enroll and have access to women-only spaces such as dorms and bathrooms.

The DOE’s Office for Civil Rights will determine whether Smith College violated Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination, at educational institutions that receive government funding.

“An all-women’s college loses all meaning if it is admitting biological males,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said in a statement.

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“Allowing biological males into spaces designed for women raises serious concerns about privacy, fairness, and compliance under federal law. The Trump Administration will continue to uphold the law and fight to restore common sense,” the DOE official said.

Women’s colleges, such as Smith College, and men’s colleges are allowed to operate under a single-sex exception to Title IX. There were about 230 women’s colleges in 1960, which dwindled to just 30 in 2023, according to the Women’s College Coalition.

The DOE is arguing that the single-sex exception “applies on the basis of biological sex difference, not subjective gender identity,” according to its statement Monday.

“An all-girls college that enrolls male students professing a female identity would cease to qualify as single sex under Title IX,” the release read.

Smith College told The Independent that it had been notified that the DOE has opened a Title IX investigation into the institution and that it does not comment on pending federal probes.

“The College is fully committed to its institutional values, including compliance with civil rights laws,” Smith College said.

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Smith College first announced that it would allow transgender women to enroll more than a decade ago.

“The board’s decision affirms Smith’s unwavering mission and identity as a women’s college, our commitment to representing the diversity of women’s lived experiences, and the college’s exceptional role in the advancement of women worldwide,” Smith College said in a statement in 2015, according to The Washington Post.

“Our clarified admission policy reflects a women’s college that is steadfast in its founding mission yet evolving to reflect a changing world,” the statement continued.

The probe into Smith College stems from a June 2025 complaint filed by the conservative legal organization Defending Education.

“We’re gratified that they have an open investigation into it,” Nicole Neily, president of Defending Education, said in a statement shared by Politico.

“I believe very strongly in the importance of single-sex spaces, be it a boys camp or an all-women’s college. And how Smith College has been addressing the issue of gender, to me, is very troubling,” Neily said.

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Trump has often spread anti-trans rhetoric, claiming Democrats want “transgender for everybody.”

After he returned to the White House, Trump declared that it was federal policy that there were only two sexes — male and female. The president also signed an executive order seeking to ban trans women and girls from competing in women’s sports in February 2025.

The Biden administration had expanded Title IX to include rules to protect LGBTQ+ students better, but they were struck down by a federal judge in January 2025. U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves in Kentucky found the new rules overstepped former President Joe Biden’s authority, the Associated Press reported at the time.

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