Lucy Cavendish College, an all-women college at Cambridge University is looking again at its transgender policy.
A second all-women Cambridge University college is to reconsider its admissions policy for transgender students.
Lucy Cavendish College has decided to review whether to relax its admission policy for students in the process of transitioning – following in the footseps of Murray Edwards College.
Altering its admissions policy would make it possible for the college to accept students who live as a woman but are still legally classed as a man.
Until this year the college required all applicants to be “legally defined as female”. But a decision by the college council has approved an update that states it will now accept students “who at the point of application identifies as a woman”, reports The Daily Telegraph .
The council of Lucy Cavendish College met on Wednesday (October 4) to review the change.
There are only three all-women Cambridge University colleges Lucy Cavendish, Murray Edwards and Newnham.
Newnham has accepted any student identifying as female since 2015.
Its Transgender Policy statement says it accepts “any individual who had transitioned to female, and any individual who is legally recognised as female under the Gender Recognition Act.”
But The Daily Telegraph reports that the college – whose alumni include the feminist Germaine Greer and the actress Emma Thompson – will be the focus of a Cambridge University Student Union (CUSU) campaign to make further changes to accommodate transgender students.
Germaine Greer yesterday (October 6) denounced Murray Edwards for accepting transgender women as students.
She labelled the college’s decision “ridiculous” and a “silly situation” to put themselves in.
Kate Litman, women’s officer at Murray Edwards, told The Daily Telegraph: “The CUSU women’s officer is hoping to run a campaign on this to see broader change. That will be a focus for her. We are hoping that they will see Murray Edwards as setting what is possible and following suit.
“Lucy Cavendish is a graduate college, so Newnham is more the focus. We have lots of meetings coming up [with women’s officers from Lucy Cavendish and Newnham] and we plan to work together.”
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/lucycavendish-considers-accepting-trans-women-13730219