A month ago we told you how St. Mary’s women’s college in Notre Dame had begun a new policy of allowing ‘transgender women’ to apply and enroll at the college.
But now they’ve rescinded that policy and will only allow biological women to apply.
Here’s more from the New York Post:
A Catholic women’s college in Indiana has reversed its decision to allow transgender applicants following a month of backlash — admitting it “lost people’s trust and unintentionally created division” even as the university president defended the inclusion policy.
Notre Dame-based St. Mary’s College announced in November that it “will consider undergraduate applicants whose sex assigned at birth is female or who consistently live and identify as women” in 2024.
But on Thursday morning, president Katie Conboy sent an email to faculty confirming that the board of trustees decided to go back to its original policy of only accepting biological women.
“This has weighed heavily on our minds and in our hearts,” Conboy wrote in the email, originally obtained by the Daily Signal.
“There have been many voices responding to us from many places and perspectives. We have listened closely and we have heard each of you,” she continued.
“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.
“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 this, we are deeply sorry.
“Taking all these factors into consideration, the Board has decided that we will return to our previous admission policy.”
Apparently the Bishop of this Catholic school had a few words with the president…
The reversal in policy reportedly came after Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend met with Conboy and Sister M. Veronique, president of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, to discuss the transgender admission policy, according to the student-run newspaper the Observer.
He had earlier released a statement saying college officials did not consult with him before making the policy change, and said they fundamentally departed from Catholic teachings on the nature of women.
Students at the college also said they were not included in the conversation on accepting transgender applicants, and several alumnae even halted their donations to their alma mater in response.
After Conboy announced the school would be reversing its decision, many spoke out with relief.
“I’m so proud of the women of St. Mary’s who were willing to stand up against this anti-women, anti-Catholic policy,” Claire Bettag, a junior at the school, told the Daily Signal.
“God’s truth will always win.”
I’m glad sanity and God’s truth wins the day at St. Mary’s. But I’m sure the left won’t be happy with this decision and will come after this president and her board of trustees.