Recently, the prestigious, women-only institution, Smith College in Northampton, Mass. rejected an individual who did not select “female” on the binary bubbles listed on the application.
Seems simple enough right?
Smith College was founded on the premise of educating elite, intelligent and driven women in efforts to balance the gender gap. Women are often discriminated against in higher education, so to have an all-woman college seems progressive.
Rejecting someone who is not a woman appears to be a valid decision, according to their philosophy. This is a girls’ college: No boys allowed.
Well, the real reason this person did not complete the application as a woman was due to the fact that anatomically, they are not female. In every other part of their mind, body and soul they identify as a woman. This individual was transgender, male to female, pre-surgery.
Doesn’t this make the rejection a little more complex?
This issue raised a lot of questions for me, ones that I don’t think one can ever know the answers to. It got me wondering, what does make us female or male? Is it our biological and hormonal make up? Is it our gender actions? Is it what we believe it to be? Is it real? Is gender discrimination, if done in support of oppressed women, necessarily fair?
Even without concrete answers to these convoluted questions, we can see how rejection of a transgender individual is discriminatory. I am disappointed with this intolerance, whatever your supposed mission of a school may be.
I idolized Smith College for many reasons and applied there in addition to Keene State College. I loved the vibe of Smith: the eclectic classes, the open-mindedness of diverse students and the smart women who call it home. I dreamed of the day that I would be among intelligent, strong women in a classroom that valued them and promoted their education in a way that co-ed public schools simply could not replicate.
Smith also has an elite population of upper-class, successful women who come from wealthy families. They also have a tradition of training doctors, researchers, scientists and professors that competes with Ivy League institutions.
However, with the exclusive access to only teaching women, it provides a unique atmosphere that I envied as a “strong-minded female.” All in all, Smith fit my personality of feminist spunk and classic education to a T. All for a mere $55,000 a year, and no financial aid.
So I had the options of being in debt my entire life to go to my dream school or play it financially safe with the local college and graduate with a respectable-sized black hole of money to my name. I chose the latter. Hello Keene State College!
But over the course of my time at Keene State College, I located myself with other feminists on campus in efforts to make my own experience similar to that I would have had at my dream school. I took on leadership of the Feminist Collective, attended conferences, you know, started becoming (as I like to call myself) the “big B on campus.” And I like it enough.
I like the feel of Keene State College’s begrudging feminist movement, the inconsistent support from the administration, the activist projects that are within reach, the epicenter of the presidential election. We have a lot of leverage to influence social change. I’m in the process of taking full advantage of it.
I’m continually surprised at the efforts of this small school to transform itself in reflection to students’ needs. In blatant contrast to Smith, KSC’s regard for trans individuals is one of acceptance and celebration. KSC, two years ago, forged new territory for gender inclusion when they revised their housing policy to allow people of all genders to exist in “co-ed on-campus housing.”
A few weeks ago, we welcomed trans celebrity Chaz Bono to a packed space of diverse students. We have a variety of student organizations–Pride, FemCo, MVP, No Zebras–whose missions are to eliminate gender discrimination and value people of all sexes and sexualities on campus and beyond.
And the campus responds loud and clear in support of equality for all. “Shout Out” against sexual assault, rallies for marriage equality, Take Back the Night and Walk-a-Mile were all recent gender conscious events that drew passionate and vocal crowds. Times like these, I’m proud to go to a school that is inclusive of all types of people. Public education has its perks.
So sorry Smith, you can keep your high tuition, your elite status, your interests in promoting gender equality for all. Or, excuse me, equality for only biologically born women. I am quite happy to pay less, do more and befriend people of a wide spectrum of genders right here at Keene State College.
Krista Sullivan can be contacted at
ksullivan15@ksc.keene.edu