Morehouse is the first all-male school to officially accept transgender students. After much debate, the college made the announcement this weekend.
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Terrance Dixon, Morehouse vice president for enrollment management, said in a statement, “In a rapidly changing world that includes a better understanding of gender identity, we’re proud to expand our admissions policy to consider trans men who want to be part of an institution that has produced some of the greatest leaders in social justice, politics, business, and the arts for more than 150 years. The ratification of this policy affirms the College’s commitment to develop men with disciplined minds who will lead lives of leadership and service.”
The Gender Identity Admissions and Matriculation Policy says, “Morehouse will consider for undergraduate admission those applicants who live and self-identify as men, regardless of the sex assigned to them at birth. Morehouse will not consider for admission women or those assigned male at birth who identify as women.”
The policy also reads, “Once admitted, the student is expected to continue to self-identify as a man throughout his matriculation at Morehouse.”
Morehouse President David A. Thomas told ABC News, “I can’t speak for all HBCUs, but we know in the Black church there has largely been silence on this issue. I can imagine there may be people who would say, ‘Why would you even raise this?’ I say to those people we live in an era now where silence on these issues is actually not helpful. For us, as a school for men, it’s important for us to set clear expectations about what that means. That’s what we’re trying to do with this policy.”
In September 2017, Spelman College announced that they would accept transgender women tp enroll. A statement read, “In adopting this admissions policy, Spelman continues its fervent belief in the power of the Spelman Sisterhood. Students who choose Spelman come to our campus prepared to participate in a women’s college that is academically and intellectually rigorous, and affirms its core mission as the education and development of high-achieving Black women.”
Morehouse is the first standalone all-male college to have a transgender policy. There are two other all-male colleges, Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia and Wabash College in Indiana. Minnesota’s St. John’s University enrolls only men but has a co-ed academic program with the College of St. Benedict, which has a transgender policy.
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