Washington, D.C. Newsroom
CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY – The College of St. Benedict says it will accept both female applicants as well as male applicants who ‘now consistently live and identify as female, transgender, gender-fluid, or nonbinary.’
A pair of single-sex Catholic colleges in Minnesota are allowing males and females to openly apply to either one of the respective opposite-sex institutions — a rule change the schools say is in response to their “evolving understanding of gender and gender identity. ”
The rule changes come as leaders in the Catholic Church, including Pope Francis, have warned of the dangers of the recent popularization of transgender ideology.
The College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, two schools for women and men, respectively, say on their joint website that they “support every student’s right to self-identification” and are dedicated to “creating spaces that allow women, men, and those who do not identify within the binary,” including “transgender, nonbinary, gender-fluid, and gender-nonconforming individuals,” to have a place.
“All applicants must identify themselves as a man or a woman, and their application materials must support their self-identification.” – St. John’s University admission policy
The College of St. Benedict says it will accept both female applicants as well as male applicants who “now consistently live and identify as female, transgender, gender-fluid, or nonbinary.”
St. John’s University, meanwhile, will consider female applicants who “consistently live and identify as male, transgender, gender-fluid, or nonbinary.”
Both schools will continue to utilize “gendered language” reflective of their respective historical single-sex missions.
The policy continues what the schools say is a “long-standing practice of accepting persons with the gender and gender identity they present to us without further substantiation.”
School spokespersons Katie Alvino and Michael Hemmesch did not respond to several phone calls and emails seeking more information on the new policy, including clarification of the transgender-related terminology used to describe the admissions rules.
