Trump Administration Investigates Smith College for Title IX Violations Over Transgender Admissions

An education watchdog group has criticized Smith College as the school faces a federal investigation into alleged Title IX violations. Nearly one year after Defending Education filed a complaint against the Massachusetts college, the Trump administration announced the probe.

The Education Department stated on Monday that Smith College was permitting "biological men" into "women-only spaces, including dormitories, bathrooms, locker rooms, and athletic teams." The administration's Office for Civil Rights is examining whether the college's policy violates Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

"An all-women’s college loses all meaning if it is admitting biological males," said Kimberly Richey, assistant secretary for civil rights, in a statement. "Allowing biological males into spaces designed for women raises serious concerns about privacy, fairness, and compliance under federal law."

Defending Education, a national grassroots organization that works to combat harmful agendas in schools, filed its complaint against Smith College in June 2025. The group accused the college of Title IX violations.

"Admitting men who feel like women means that the institution — formerly one of the nation's prestigious 'Seven Sisters' all-women's colleges — is no longer for women only," said Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president and senior legal fellow at Defending Education, in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Smith also discriminates against women by operating bathroom and facilities policies that open spaces once reserved for women's safety and privacy to anyone who 'identifies' as a woman. That makes a mockery of the 'all-women' institution."

Defending Education charged Smith College with discriminating against female students beyond allowing biological men into women-only spaces. The group noted that while the college admits biological males who identify as women, it does not admit biological women who identify as men. Defending Education called this unequal treatment.

The college's wellness center provides gender-affirming care to students across the gender spectrum, using an informed consent model for hormone therapy. Services include counseling, injection lessons, sharps containers, and letters or referrals for gender-affirming surgeries.

Smith College first announced it would admit transgender women on May 2, 2015. The policy covers self-identified women, including those who are cisgender, transgender, and nonbinary. Then-president Kathleen McCartney and then-Board of Trustees Chair Elizabeth Mugar Eveillard said the change reflected society's evolving understanding of gender.

"The board’s decision affirms Smith’s unwavering mission and identity as a women’s college, our commitment to representing the diversity of women’s lived experiences, and the college’s exceptional role in the advancement of women worldwide," their 2015 joint statement said.

"In the years since Smith’s founding, concepts of female identity have evolved. Smith alumnae have been leaders in the movement to afford women greater freedoms of aspiration and self-expression," the statement added.

The college said it would continue to use gendered language, including female pronouns, in official communications despite the policy change. Fox News Digital received no response from Smith College.