After weeks of public pressure from conservatives in Washington, Barnard has announced revisions to its admissions policies that will rapidly integrate men into the college. Following similar announcements from the College of Saint Mary in Nebraska and Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, President Laura Rosenbury revealed on Wednesday that Barnard intends to open its enrollment to male students beginning in the fall of 2027. “We recognize that this may be a disorienting change for many of you,” Rosenbury said, “but the identity of Barnard is not changing. We are simply extending the college’s opportunities to a more diverse student body. This process will not be easy, but it will bring our community closer together in the long run.”
The announcement is the latest in a string of unprecedented policy changes implemented by prestigious women’s colleges. The pattern can largely be traced to the rise of anti-DEI sentiments in Washington, and the view that women-only institutions are an extension of DEI policies. Linda McMahon, Trump’s prospective pick for Secretary of Education, took aim at women’s colleges as early as 2023, tweeting that they were “sexism in its simplest form,” and later arguing that such institutions “let radical feminist idealogies [sic] fester unchecked.” As congressional conservatives criticized Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives at high-ranking universities, the Trump administration argued that women’s colleges were furthering the principles of DEI. Multiple universities have scrambled to remove DEI-associated policies to avoid being targeted by the White House, including Columbia, who scraped their transgender-inclusive athletics policy from their website in February.
Barnard College has practiced single-sex admissions since its founding in 1889. The Wednesday announcement is the first major change in this policy since 2015, when Barnard established that their admissions process would consider the applications of transgender women, and would continue to enroll students who transitioned to male during their time at Barnard. For applications for the 2027-2028 school year, however, Barnard’s admissions committee “will not consider gender as a factor in [their] decision making.” Male and female students will be considered equally during the competitive selection process.
President Rosenbury drew criticism from Barnard students for the way the revisions were announced. Before communicating with Barnard’s student body, Rosenbury presented the news to major media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The New York Post. Barnard student groups have argued that the way the changes were released is further evidence that the move was made as a public gesture of conformity to the current administration.
Barnard will remain women-only until 2027, and will not be accepting male transfer students until then, per a statement from Barnard’s Office of Admissions. Until 2027, however, Barnard will undergo a “transition period,” says President Rosenbury, in which Barnard will “redesign itself to be more inclusive to the male community.” Rosenbury made light of the groundbreaking announcement towards the end of her release, jokingly revising the college’s slogan to “Bold, Beautiful, Boys, Barnard.”
