An all-female Catholic college, St. Mary’s Catholic College in Notre Dame, Indiana, has reversed course in its decision to accept transgender, biological male students.
President of Saint Mary’s College Katie Conboy initially stated in an email that “Saint Mary’s will consider undergraduate applicants whose sex assigned at birth is female or who consistently live and identify as women.”
“This confidence from our [Board of Trustees] underscores their commitment that as an employer, Saint Mary’s must stand firm in its position as an inclusive community leader, and that as educators, we should continue to create an environment where all women belong and thrive,” Conboy added.
This week, Conboy sent an email explaining that the Board changed its decision following widespread criticism.
The email, obtained by The Daily Signal, read, “This has weighed heavily on our minds and in our hearts. There have been many voices responding to us from many places and perspectives. We have listened closely, and we have heard each of you.”
“Some 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,” she added. “Moreover, we clearly underestimated our community’s genuine desire to be engaged in the process of shaping a policy of such significance. 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.”
“Taking all these factors into consideration, the Board has decided that we will return to our previous admission policy,” Conboy wrote. “Although this has been a challenging time for our community, we believe that the College should continually grapple with the complexity of living our Catholic values in a changing world.”
