EDITORS' CORNER
OPINION: Most women’s colleges now admit transgender students, but not Sweet Briar
A small but mighty-in-character rural Virginia women’s college has refused to be swayed by politics, protests, or persuasion into admitting men who claim to be women.
The Independent Women’s Forum recently praised Sweet Briar College and its president, alumnae Mary Pope Hutson, calling her a “champion” for women. Hutson has demonstrated that the college’s goal to create female leaders is more than just a nice sentiment on paper; it’s a real, lived-out commitment.
“The core of the work is to support a college for women, stand for women strongly,” Hutson said in a IWF profile article, published Friday. “We know that this is a place of safety… You are inspired to really be a woman of consequence.”
Hutson believes there is unique value in offering a women-only higher education.
“Single-sex education does give you a very focused approach,” she told IWF. “The ability to focus in on unique areas of women’s strengths, and that is becoming empowered with your voice, understanding your voice, talking freely about how you build community … you’re able to also test your ideas and test them freely and be able to discuss them and have open dialogue.”
For most young women, however, that option is shrinking. According to College Fix research, Sweet Briar is one of only three true women’s colleges left in the U.S. Others still claim the label but admit men who “identify” as other than what their biology makes them.
Hutson became president of the college in 2023. Just a year later, Sweet Briar faced pressure to conform with other schools and begin admitting transgender-identifying students.
One factor was a change to the Common Application, an online standardized form that allows students to fill out a single application and submit it to various colleges and universities. In 2024, the Common App began listing “multiple gender options,” which, as Sweet Briar stated at the time, caused “confusion … for applicants seeking admission to a women’s college.”
Rather than begin admitting men, it did the opposite. It re-emphasized its commitment to female students by strengthening its admissions policy.
“An applicant is qualified for admission if she confirms that her sex assigned at birth is female and that she consistently lives and identifies as a woman,” the revised policy states.
Hutson, a former athlete and graduate of the college, said the stance also was important to her personally, according to the profile:
“With all the advances we’ve made as women in America, Title IX was very important in 1972 to allow women the ability to compete in sports,” she said. “As a NCAA athlete, I can tell you, I believe strongly that we should have that level playing field. And so Sweet Briar will stand for that.”
“We drew the line in the sand and reaffirmed who we are based on donative intent,” Hutson added. “It’s a belief and wanting [for] young women to be able to have the opportunities that I have had.”
The backlash, however, was predictable. Even publications that, years before, when Sweet Briar nearly shut down, had covered the school’s triumphant return, turned on Sweet Briar. A group of students also quickly organized to protest, and some faculty signed a letter trying to overturn the female-only policy.
Some students even labeled the college as “transphobic,” The Fix reported at the time.
Most women’s colleges now admit students who “identify as female.” A 2024 College Fix analysis found the U.S. has nearly 30 women’s colleges, but only three admit women exclusively. The rest allow biological male students who “identify as female” – including “transgender,” “nonbinary,” “agender,” and “gender fluid” – to enroll at their institutions.
Hutson told IWF that Sweet Briar did make “a bold decision” by sticking with its women-only admissions policy.
Bold it was, but it also was demonstrative of what Sweet Briar aims to teach its students: to be “citizens of consequence.”
Leaders stand out when they stick to their principles even when no one else does. How refreshing to see a college lead by example for its students.
MORE: Catholic women’s college reverses course, won’t admit men ‘who identify as women’
