News Release

SOUTH BEND — In June, South Bend-based St. Mary’s College passed a new non-discrimination policy in which transgender student applicants whose “sex is female or who consistently live and identify as women” could be considered for admission to the historically female Catholic university. The new policy hit national headlines last month in November. Last week, the university reversed the policy after fierce public pushback.

Bishop Kevin Rhoades, whose diocese includes South Bend, took to Facebook to write a post detailing his thoughts on St. Mary’s College new policy, writing, “One of the four essential characteristics of a Catholic college or university is ‘fidelity to the Christian message as it comes to us through the Church’ (Ex corde Ecclesiae 13). This institutional fidelity includes “a recognition of and adherence to the teaching authority of the Church in matters of faith and morals” (Ex corde Ecclesiae 27). In this new admissions policy, Saint Mary’s departs from fundamental Catholic teaching on the nature of woman and thus compromises its very identity as a Catholic woman’s college.” To read his full statement, click here.

Opponents of the non-discrimination policy praised the college for its change of course, many opponents holding the position of allowing men who identify as women into a historically female university goes against Catholic beliefs and teachings. However, those in favor of the policy believe the reversal sets a threatening precedent for transgender students who already struggle to find acceptance in the church.

In response to the policy’s controversy, St. Mary’s College has announced it will host a series of listening sessions to “explore what it means to embrace our values as a Catholic, women’s college. We will continue to work toward understanding how a college like ours can become a true home, a place of open doors and open arms, where everyone, with all their differences intact, belongs.”