The U.S. Department of Education launched a Title IX investigation Monday into Smith College, a private women's institution in Massachusetts, over its policy of admitting transgender women. The probe, conducted by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), targets the college's decision to grant transgender students access to facilities designated for women, including dormitories, bathrooms, locker rooms, and athletic teams.
In a statement, the department argued that Title IX's single-sex exception—which permits colleges to admit only one sex—is based on biological sex, not gender identity. “An all-girls college that enrolls male students professing a female identity would cease to qualify as single sex under Title IX,” the release said. The investigation will determine whether Smith violated the 1972 law, which bars sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs.
Smith College, founded in 1875 and located in Northampton, Massachusetts, enrolls more than 2,500 undergraduates and describes itself as “among the largest women’s colleges” in the country. It admits both men and women to its graduate programs. In 2015, the board of trustees voted to include transgender women in its undergraduate admissions policy, stating the move “affirms Smith’s unwavering mission and identity as a women’s college” and its commitment to diversity. The current policy considers any applicant who “self-identifies as women,” including cisgender, transgender, and nonbinary individuals.
The investigation stems from a complaint filed last June by Defending Education, a conservative activist group that alleges Smith’s admissions policy violates Title IX. The group’s complaint echoes arguments that admitting transgender women undermines the legal and practical meaning of a women’s college. Kimberly Richey, an assistant secretary for civil rights at the Education Department, said in the release: “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. The Trump Administration will continue to uphold the law and fight to restore common sense.”
The investigation aligns with broader Trump administration actions on gender policy. On his first day back in office, President Trump signed an executive order defining sex as an “immutable biological classification as either male or female,” effectively removing “gender identity” from federal recognition. In December, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed blocking Medicare and Medicaid funding for hospitals and doctors that provide gender-affirming procedures to minors. Meanwhile, the Justice Department has revived controversial execution methods, including firing squads, amid a push to limit appeals.
The Hill has reached out to Smith College for comment. The OCR’s inquiry could set a precedent for how federal law applies to single-sex institutions and transgender admissions, a flashpoint in the ongoing debate over campus policies and free speech. For colleges navigating these tensions, experts suggest that how classrooms handle such disputes may offer a model for defusing broader campus conflicts.
Smith’s 2015 policy change was celebrated by advocates of transgender inclusion but has drawn increasing scrutiny from conservative groups and federal officials. The outcome of this investigation could have implications beyond Smith, affecting other women’s colleges with similar admissions policies and the interpretation of Title IX’s single-sex exception nationwide.
