At the time, the news \u201cpiqued my interest as to what the policies were relative to single-sex admissions and gender identity at the college,\u201d because Smith receives federal funding, said Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president of the conservative group, Defending Education. <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n In June 2025, Perry filed a federal civil rights complaint<\/a> with the US Department of Education that has since morphed into a government investigation probing whether Smith\u2019s admissions policy violates Title IX, the law prohibiting sex discrimination in education programs that receive federal assistance.<\/span><\/p>\n The investigation could have implications for other women\u2019s colleges, including Mount Holyoke and Wellesley, which both admit transgender women.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTitle IX contains a single-sex exception that allows colleges to enroll all-male or all-female student bodies \u2014 but the exception applies on the basis of biological sex difference, not subjective gender identity,\u201c the US Education Department\u2019s Civil Rights office said in a statement Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAn all-girls college that enrolls male students professing a female identity would cease to qualify as single sex under Title IX,\u201d the statement said<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n A spokesperson for Smith said the school is aware of the investigation and \u201cfully committed to [Smith\u2019s] institutional mission and values, including compliance with civil rights laws,\u201d but \u201cdoes not comment on pending government investigations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Levine, the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate, is a favorite target of Republicans, drawing particularly intense criticism for her opposition to government-imposed restrictions on transgender care for minors, which she has called a health equity issue<\/a>. The Trump campaign featured her image in ads attacking Kamala Harris on trans rights issues in the 2024 presidential race.<\/span><\/p>\n The Defending Education complaint argues Smith discriminates against \u201cbiological women\u201d by admitting students whose assigned sex at birth was male but identify as female, while barring students whose assigned sex at birth was female but identify as male.<\/span><\/p>\n The US Department of Education did not respond to a Globe request for more information on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n Perry, who served as a high-level official<\/a> in the Department of Education during the first Trump term, said the investigation should encourage Smith to agree to a resolution with the administration.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSmith College, obviously, is under no obligation to receive federal funding, but once they do, they have to follow federal civil rights law,\u201d she said. \u201cSmith can\u2019t have its cake and eat it, too, by saying, \u2018We\u2019ll give lip service to Title IX, but we will violate the spirit, letter, history, and plain text of Title IX at the same [time].\u2019 \u201d <\/span><\/p>\n If Smith wants to keep its current policies, she added, it can rely on private and state funding instead.<\/span><\/p>\n Shiwali Patel, senior director of education justice at the National Women\u2019s Law Center, said the probe is proof the Trump administration is more interested in \u201cfocusing on fake problems than addressing the actual issues that women and girls are facing in education.\u201d Patel also argued that admissions to private undergraduate colleges are exempt from Title IX\u2019s requirements. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe Department of Education\u2019s investigation into Smith College is not civil rights enforcement. It\u2019s the weaponization of Title IX and its protections,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n Within hours of the Trump administration\u2019s announcement of the investigation Monday, colorful chalk messages began to appear all over Smith\u2019s campus: \u201cYou belong here,\u201d \u201cWe love our trans sisters,\u201d \u201cTrans people belong at Smith.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The college also alerted the campus community about the investigation via an email that shared mental health and other resources. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe recognize that this development is very difficult for our community,\u201d wrote Alexandra Keller, dean of the college and vice president of campus life.<\/span><\/p>\n Margot Audero, a transgender woman in her senior year at Smith, understands her college\u2019s need to be cautious, but she also wants to hear its leaders speak up.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis does fundamentally change the calculus,\u201d she said. \u201cSmith no longer has the option of staying out of the spotlight. . . . I do think they have the opportunity to loudly state their values.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Smith investigation is part of the White House\u2019s broader campaign against transgender rights. On his first day back in office, Trump pledged<\/a> to \u201cdefend women\u2019s rights\u201d by recognizing sex as immutable and binary \u2014 biologically male or female \u2014 and ordered federal agencies to \u201censure grant funds do not promote gender ideology.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The administration has since pursued a raft of antitrans policies, from blocking federal funding to hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to minors to mandating the removal of transgender personnel from the military. It even changed Levine\u2019s name on her official portrait to her previous name, NPR reported<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n The legal and political fight has resurfaced divisions over the difference between sex and gender, along with what it means to be a women\u2019s college today. Both Smith and Wellesley have evolved significantly since first opening their doors around 150 years ago, while Mount Holyoke College, founded in 1837, is <\/b>the most gender-inclusive of the trio.<\/span><\/p>\n Mount Holyoke dubs itself \u201cthe leading gender-diverse women\u2019s college\u201d and welcomes<\/a> everyone but cisgender men (who identify as male, in accordance with their assigned sex at birth). Wellesley admits students who live and consistently identify<\/a> as women.<\/span><\/p>\n Smith currently \u201cconsiders for admission any applicants who self-identify as women,\u201d including those who are cis, trans, and nonbinary, according to its website<\/a>. The college changed its admissions policy to include self-identified transgender women in May 2015<\/a>, amid pushback from some alumnae. <\/span><\/p>\n Genny Beemyn, director of the Stonewall Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, <\/b>a resource for the LGBTQ+ community on campus and beyond, wasn\u2019t surprised by the DOE investigation of Smith. <\/span><\/p>\n What is surprising is that \u201cit took this long, quite honestly, given the [Trump] administration\u2019s hatred of trans people,\u201d Beemyn said.<\/span><\/p>\n As a nonbinary educator who often speaks publicly about transgender issues at schools across the country, Beemyn is receiving far fewer invitations as colleges keep a low profile to avoid the glare of the Trump administration. <\/span><\/p>\n Campuses are \u201cscared to do trans events, to have trans speakers, to demonstrate that they support trans rights . . . because they\u2019re so fearful of being targeted, being singled out, being attacked, maybe having federal funds taken away,\u201d Beemyn said, adding that institutions should be careful, but not invisible in the fight.<\/span><\/p>\n Beemyn noted that they\u2019ve also heard from transgender students at UMass Amherst and other schools \u201cwho are feeling like they don\u2019t have a lot of support because their administrations are not coming forward and saying, \u2018We support you.\u2019 And that makes a difference.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Last fall after Perry filed her complaint, Smith president Sarah Willie-LeBreton told the Globe she hadn\u2019t heard from the DOE and <\/b>wasn\u2019t prepared to \u201coffer legitimacy\u201d to it by commenting. \u201cOur admissions policies are firmly within the law,\u201d she said at the time<\/a>, \u201cand we\u2019re very proud of those policies.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Now that a federal investigation of Smith has been announced, \u201cThe proof will be what Smith decides to do in response: if they capitulate, or if they stand up and say, \u2018This is something we value, and we are not going to give into the administration,\u2019 \u201d Beemyn said.<\/span><\/p>\n This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the name of Alexandra Keller<\/b><\/i>, dean of the college and vice president of campus life<\/b><\/i> at Smith.<\/b><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Brooke Hauser can be reached at brooke.hauser@globe.com<\/a>. Follow her @brookehauser<\/a>. Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com<\/a>. Follow her @talanez<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Sarah](\"https:\/\/bostonglobe-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/JZ77QIGGQKCR537OERZVLIGCMA.jpg?auth=3ce65561e5f9715a9ce422a0a103d9891195122fd19528e32c98ea5356b6813b&width=1440\")
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