The Trump administration opened an investigation on Monday into a historic all-women\u2019s college that admits gender-confused men.<\/span><\/p>\n The Department of Education confirmed in a letter<\/a> that it had launched a probe into whether Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, was violating Title IX. The investigation comes almost one year <\/span>after<\/span><\/a> watchdog organization Defending Education filed a civil rights complaint over its transgender policies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe complaint alleges that the College, one of the largest women\u2019s colleges in the United States, discriminates against women on the basis of sex by admitting males who identify as women (\u2018self-identified transgender women\u2019) and by permitting male students to use intimate facilities designated for women,\u201d the Education Department\u2019s Office of Civil Rights wrote in a letter on Monday to Defending Education. \u201c[The Office of Civil Rights] is opening the complaint for investigation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The office will determine whether there are any merits to Defending Education\u2019s complaint, which was first reported<\/a> on by The Daily Wire in June 2025.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The complaint said that the school violates federal policy by allowing males who identify as females to take the place of females in admissions. Smith College only admitted about 22% of applicants for the 2024-2025 school year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The stated policies make it clear that the historically all-women\u2019s college allows men to enter so long as they identify as transgender. The decision to admit males was first made in 2015 after Smith conducted<\/a> a year-long study group on the topic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPeople who identify as women \u2014 cis, trans, and nonbinary women \u2014 are eligible to apply to Smith,\u201d the college <\/span>explains<\/span><\/a>. \u201cSmith\u2019s policy is one of self-identification. The applicant\u2019s affirmation of identity is sufficient.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Smith also says that it has an \u201call-gender locker room in the athletic facilities\u201d and is working on making more multi-stall \u201call-gender\u201d bathrooms.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Defending Education Vice President Sarah Parshall Perry said she looked forward to the department\u2019s investigation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSmith College has a longstanding reputation as a women\u2019s college of exclusive excellence. But that hasn\u2019t prevented it from falling victim to the fiction of \u2018transgender\u2019 womanhood,\u201d she said. \u201cAdmitting men who feel like women means that the institution \u2014 formerly one of the nation\u2019s prestigious \u2018Seven Sisters\u2019 all-women\u2019s colleges \u2014 is no longer for women only.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n