Less than a month after they were sharply criticized by the bishop, Saint Mary’s College leaders have reversed a new policy that would have considered transgender females for admission.
In a letter to the college community, the school’s president and board of trustees chair said they had believed the new policy had “affirmed our identity as an inclusive, Catholic women’s college. It is increasingly clear, however, that the position we took is not shared by all members of our community.”
Most notably, it wasn’t shared by Fort Wayne-South Bend Catholic Diocese Bishop Kevin Rhoades. In a Nov. 26 editorial on the diocese website, Rhoades said the new policy violated Catholic doctrine, and he was disappointed that he had not been consulted by the catholic women’s college.
"We recognize that the experience of the last several weeks has been not only trying but also personally painful — for many reasons — for students, faculty, staff, and alumnae," reads the letter.
"Our deepest hope is for everyone to return in January committed to rebuilding trust and to building a campus that accepts healthy disagreement as part of the value of an academic community. For all colleges and universities, this is a defining challenge of our time."
