Foes of biological males in women’s spaces received an early Christmas present when an all-women’s Catholic college walked back on considering transgender applicants after opposition from alumnae and religious leaders.
The board of St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana, voted this week to reverse its June decision to accept biological boys who identify as girls, according to a Thursday email from President Katie Conboy and Maureen Karantz Smith, the board chair.
They said the initial move to allow transgender applicants was seen as a way to “live our Catholic values as a loving and just community.”
“We believed that it affirmed our identity as an inclusive Catholic women’s college,” said the email to the “St. Mary’s College community.” “It is increasingly clear, however, that the position we took is not shared by all members of our community.”
They said some of those “worried that this was much more than a policy decision: they felt it was a dilution of our mission or even a threat to our Catholic identity,” said the email reposted online by CatholicVote.
“Moreover, we clearly underestimated our community’s genuine desire to be engaged in the process of shaping such a policy of such significance,” the email said. “As this last month unfolded, we lost people’s trust and unintentionally created division where we had hoped for unity. For this, we are deeply sorry.”
The board had voted to consider applicants who “consistently live and identify as women” starting in admissions for fall 2024, but met with immediate pushback from graduates and Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, who heads the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.
The bishop said he was blindsided by the decision and warned that the new admissions policy means that “Saint Mary’s departs from fundamental Catholic teaching on the nature of woman and thus compromises its very identity as a Catholic woman’s college.”
Clare Anne Ath, a 2018 graduate of St. Mary’s, cheered the reversal, crediting Bishop Rhoades and “the generations of faithful Catholic SMC alums who were prayerful on this matter and made their concerns known.”
🚨🚨BREAKING: @saintmarys has issued a statement REVERSING their admissions policy that would allow biological men to attend the Catholic women’s college.
I just received an alumni email detailing the decision & would like to thank Bishop Kevin Rhoades, the @diocesefwsb, and… pic.twitter.com/ImERzvuOek
— Clare Anne Ath (@clareanneath) December 21, 2023
Not everyone supported the about-face. Ms. Ath posted an email from the faculty of the school’s psychology department saying that “we want to make a clear statement that we disagree with this decision; as psychologists, the research is clear.”
“We recognize how painful this is for many members of our community,” said the email to psychology students.
Founded in 1844 by the Sisters of the Holy Cross, St. Mary’s has an enrollment of about 1,400 students.