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Additional Information
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Incident Nature:
Other
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Incident Political Orientation:
Not Clear -
Incident Responses:
Title IX or other federal statute
Other
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Incident Status:
No litigation
- Was Speech Code incident
Summary
On May 4, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened a Title IX investigation into Smith College’s policy of admitting transgender women. The investigation examined whether Smith violated Title IX by allowing transgender women to enroll at an institution that identifies as a women’s college. The Education Department said the review would determine whether Smith’s admissions policy complied with Title IX’s exemption for single sex institutions.
The Education Department said Title IX’s exemption for single sex colleges applied based on “biological sex difference, not subjective gender identity.” The department stated that Smith’s policy raised questions about whether the college could continue to qualify as a single sex institution while admitting transgender women and providing access to women only facilities, including dormitories, bathrooms, locker rooms, and athletic teams. Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said, “An all-women’s college loses all meaning if it is admitting biological males.”
On May 5, 2026, additional reports examined Smith’s admissions policy, which the college adopted in 2015 to allow transgender women to apply for admission. The policy stated that applicants who identified as women, including cisgender women, transgender women, and nonbinary women, were eligible to apply. Smith said on May 5 that it had received notice of the federal investigation and would participate in the review process, adding that it remained committed to complying with applicable civil rights laws.
The investigation also followed controversy over Smith’s decision to award an honorary degree to Dr. Rachel Levine in May 2025. Levine, a transgender physician who served as U.S. assistant secretary for health, was recognized by the college for her public service. Reports noted that critics of Smith’s transgender admissions policy referenced Levine’s honorary degree as part of their objections to the college’s policies, although the Education Department identified Smith’s admissions policy, rather than the honorary degree, as the basis for the Title IX investigation.
