Barnard joins other women's colleges in admitting transgender women

By Katie Reilly NEW YORK (Reuters) - Barnard College said on Thursday that it would begin accepting transgender women for the first time, joining a growing number of women's schools that have put similar policies in place this year. The change, which will go into effect for students applying for admission in fall 2016, will make anyone who currently identifies as a woman eligible. Barnard, an elite women's school that operates in partnership with New York's Columbia University, was founded in 1889 and currently has 2,400 students. As a women's college, Barnard will continue to deny admission to people who were born female but now identify as male. Barnard students who transition to male before graduating are still eligible to earn their degrees. The new policy, which mirrors changes at Wellesley, Smith and other schools, coincides with a national shift for greater acceptance and equal treatment of transgender people. Caitlyn Jenner, the Olympic decathlon champion and reality TV star formerly known as Bruce, received a wave of praise this week when she revealed her name and shared her story of transition in a cover story in Vanity Fair magazine. In a letter to the Barnard community on Thursday, President Debora Spar and Board of Trustees Chairwoman Jolyne Caruso-Fitzgerald said the change represents recognition of an evolving understanding of gender identity. "There was no question that Barnard must reaffirm its mission as a college for women. And there was little debate that trans-women should be eligible for admission to Barnard," they wrote. (Reporting by Katie Reilly; Editing by Sandra Maler)