Trump Administration Opens Title IX Probe into Smith College Over Transgender Admissions

On May 6, 2026 the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened a Title IX investigation of Smith College, a private all-women’s liberal arts college in Northampton, Massachusetts. The probe will assess whether admitting students who self-identify as women—characterized by the department as “biological men”—and allowing them access to women-only dormitories, bathrooms, locker rooms and athletic teams violates Title IX’s single-sex exemption.

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Smith College revised its admissions in May 2015 to accept any applicant who self-identifies as a woman—cis, trans or nonbinary—after a 2013 campus protest over a trans applicant’s denial. The school is one of roughly 30 women’s colleges remaining, down from more than 200 in the early 20th century, according to the Women’s College Coalition.

CNN

Assistant Secretary Kimberly Richey said the college loses its purpose by admitting biological males and that allowing them into women-only spaces raises privacy, fairness and compliance concerns. Smith College’s spokesperson said the school is “fully committed to its mission and to complying with civil-rights laws.” Defending Education’s complaint alleges the policy encroaches upon sex-specific programs and spaces and characterizes it as a fiction of transgender womanhood.

Boston Globe

About 1 % of U.S. residents age 13+ identify as transgender; Smith College enrolls over 2,500 undergraduates and is one of roughly 30 remaining women’s colleges.

The Hill

Shannon Minter (National Center for LGBTQ Rights) called the probe “ominous” and a “weaponization of anti-discrimination laws.” Nicholas Hite (Lambda Legal) said admitting trans women follows women’s colleges’ historic mission. Lynn Pasquerella warned the administration “uses fear and intimidation.”

CNN

Smith provides trans-affirming health care, peer support, single-occupancy all-gender restrooms and an all-gender locker room with private changing areas.

CNN

The department calls trans women “biological men,” while Smith and advocates use “transgender women,” showing divergent terminology. The number of trans students at Smith is not disclosed, and scholars disagree on Title IX’s single-sex exemption’s applicability to gender identity.

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• “an all-women’s college loses all meaning if it is admitting biological males.” — Kimberly Richey, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education

Inside Higher Ed

• “Women’s colleges came into existence because of oppression that was inflicted on the basis of gender,” — Nicholas Hite, Senior Attorney, Lambda Legal

CNN

• “What we have seen [from the Trump administration] is attempts to use fear and intimidation,” — Lynn Pasquerella, President, American Association of Colleges and Universities

Inside Higher Ed

• “falling victim to the fiction of ‘transgender’ womanhood,” — Defending Education, Complaint Statement

Inside Higher Ed

The OCR will review Smith’s admissions and housing policies over the coming months; its findings could affect the college’s Title IX status, federal funding, and prompt similar reviews at other women’s colleges.

Washington Examiner