Morehouse College has announced that they will start admitting transgender men in 2020.
But despite the momentous milestone, many are calling the new policy, approved by the board of trustees on Saturday, exclusionary.
According to the school’s press release, students who identify as women but were born male cannot enroll, and anyone who transitions from male to female will not be automatically eligible to receive a degree from the institution.
The policy also states that Morehouse “will continue to use masculine pronouns” which it calls “the language of brotherhood.”
“You can’t control how someone feels in their body,” Morehouse alum Titi Naomi Tukes told the Associated Press. Tukes is a 2017 graduate who enrolled as a cisgender man in 2013 but now identifies as transgender nonbinary and uses the pronouns they/them/their. “The college fails at addressing and understanding the gender journey that one undergoes during their college experience, spiritually, emotionally, physically and psychologically.”
But the iconic college is calling the new policy an important step towards an inclusive campus
“I think Morehouse having the courage to speak to issues of masculinity in today’s environment is important,” Morehouse College President David Thomas told The Associated Press. “For 152 years, the world has, in some way, seen Morehouse as the West Point of black male development.”
Other HBCUs with transgender policies include Tuskegee University, Howard University, Florida A&M University, Southern University, North Carolina Central University, Morgan State University