Subscribe
Hellobeautiful Featured Video
CLOSE

As the world continues to be more open and accepting of transgender men and women, many barriers are being broken to include their rights. Noted HBCU Spelman College has taken a huge step forward in inclusion by announcing plans to openly admit transgender women.

The conversation surrounding transgender rights and visibility is one of the hottest topics in the country and Spelman is tackling the issue head on with the announcement that beginning in fall 2018, trans women will be open to admission. As expected with any new major change, the response to the change in admission has been mixed, however Spelman President Mary Schmidt Campbell has made her stance clear on the issue, as reported by The Root.

Via The Root:

Spelman College has stepped up, and President Mary Schmidt Campbell announced that the Atlanta-based school of about 2,200 students will now accept trans women as students starting in the 2018-2019 school year.

In a letter sent out to students Tuesday, Schmidt Campbell noted that the school’s admissions and enrollment policy had been updated. It reads in part:

“Spelman College, a Historically Black College whose mission is to serve high-achieving black women, will consider for admission women students including students who consistently live and self-identify as women, regardless of their gender assignment at birth. Spelman does not admit male students, including students who self-identify and live consistently as men, regardless of gender assignment at birth. If a woman is admitted and transitions to male while a student at Spelman, the college will permit that student to continue to matriculate at and graduate from Spelman.”

In an official statement coinciding with the personal letter sent out to students, Spelman discussed the importance of the Spelman Sisterhood:

“In adopting this admissions policy, Spelman continues its fervent belief in the power of the Spelman Sisterhood,” the [statement] reads. “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.”

To further help with the new admissions policy, Spelman offered a list of FAQs to help answer the most pressing questions so students have a general idea of what to expect come fall 2018.

 

Check out today’s Top Stories here:

Robert De Niro Pledges To Help Rebuild Island Of Barbuda After Hurricane Irma

#NYFWNoir: Kim Kardashian Wears Laquan Smith To Day One Of New York Fashion Week

The grand return of the Melanin Awards amplifies and honors the finest Black-owned beauty brands with honest reviews, and discusses the evolution of beauty in Hip-Hop culture.