Transgender and nonbinary admissions at Mount Holyoke College for the Chronicle of Higher Education
April 28, 2019

Kai Chuckas (21; pronouns: he, him) is a junior at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA. He is studying Critical Social Thought and also serves as a Community Advisor (similar to an RA) in his dorm, Pearsons Hall. He is seen here in his girlfriend's dorm room in Pearsons Hall on Mon., Nov. 19, 2018. "I consider this to be more my home than my own dorm room," he says, "It's our collective space." Chuckas identifies as a transgender man.
A sign for Mount Holyoke College's Admissions office is seen along College Street in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, on Wed., Nov. 28, 2018.

For the Chronicle of Higher Education, I spent a couple of days last fall on the campus of Mount Holyoke College, a historically women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, for a story about the school grappling with the issue of admitting transgender and nonbinary identifying students. Thanks to Rose at the Chronicle for the assignment and to students Leo, Kai, and Sarah, and President Sonya Stephens and Vice President for Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer Kijua Sanders-McMurtry, for being willing to be photographed for such a sensitive story.

The story, by Nora Caplan-Bricker, is available online to Chronicle subscribers: Who Is a Women’s College For?

Leo Rachman (20; pronouns: he/him) is a junior studying Music with a focus on piano at Mount Holyoke College. He is seen here in Abbey Chapel on Mount Holyoke College's campus, on Mon., Nov. 19, 2018. Rachman says of the Chapel, "It's one of my favorite performance spaces and a good place for me to sit and think. It brings a lot of comfort to me." He says that the Chapel has no religious significance to him. Rachman identifies as a non-binary man.
Leo Rachman (20; pronouns: he/him) is a junior studying Music with a focus on piano at Mount Holyoke College. He is seen here in the atrium of Williston Library (part of Mount Holyoke's Library, Information, and Technology Services (LITS)) on Mount Holyoke College's campus, on Wed., Nov. 28, 2018. Rachman identifies as a non-binary man.
Leo Rachman (20; pronouns: he/him) is a junior studying Music with a focus on piano at Mount Holyoke College. He is seen here in Abbey Chapel on Mount Holyoke College's campus, on Mon., Nov. 19, 2018. Rachman says of the Chapel, "It's one of my favorite performance spaces and a good place for me to sit and think. It brings a lot of comfort to me." He says that the Chapel has no religious significance to him. Rachman identifies as a non-binary man.
A view of the Williston Library (part of Mount Holyoke College's Library, Information, and Technology Services (LITS)) at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, on Wed., Nov. 28, 2018.
Kai Chuckas (21; pronouns: he, him) is a junior at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA. He is studying Critical Social Thought and also serves as a Community Advisor (similar to an RA) in his dorm, Pearsons Hall. He is seen here in a common room on the main floor of Pearsons Hall on Mon., Nov. 19, 2018. Chuckas identifies as a transgender man.
Kai Chuckas (21; pronouns: he, him) is a junior at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA. He is studying Critical Social Thought and also serves as a Community Advisor (similar to an RA) in his dorm, Pearsons Hall. He is seen here in a sun room common space on the main floor of Pearsons Hall on Mon., Nov. 19, 2018. Chuckas identifies as a transgender man.
A view of the tower on Mary Lyon Hall at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, on Wed., Nov. 28, 2018. Mary Lyon Hall houses the school's administration.
A brick reading "1937" occupies a corner at the front of the Abbey Chapel at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, on Wed., Nov. 28, 2018.
Metal handles are seen on the main door to Abbey Chapel at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, on Wed., Nov. 28, 2018.
Trees are reflected in a window of the Williston Library (part of Mount Holyoke College's Library, Information, and Technology Services (LITS)) at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, on Wed., Nov. 28, 2018.
Sarah Cavar (19, turning 20 on Dec. 19, 2018; pronouns: they, them) is a junior studying Critical Social Thought at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, on Wed., Nov. 28, 2018. They are seen here in their dorm room in 1837 Hall on the campus of Mount Holyoke College. They identify as genderless. On the wall above Cavar's desk is a Pride flag and hanging from the wall above their bed is a Trans Pride flag. On the bulletin board next to Cavar there is a pink and blue name sign that reads "Sarah / They/Them" indicating Cavar's preferred pronouns.
Sarah Cavar (19, turning 20 on Dec. 19, 2018; pronouns: they, them) is a junior studying Critical Social Thought at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, on Wed., Nov. 28, 2018. They are seen here in their dorm room in 1837 Hall on the campus of Mount Holyoke College. They identify as genderless. On the wall above Cavar's desk is a Pride flag and hanging from the wall above their bed is a Trans Pride flag.
Sarah Cavar (19, turning 20 on Dec. 19, 2018; pronouns: they, them) is a junior studying Critical Social Thought at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, on Wed., Nov. 28, 2018. They are seen here in their dorm room in 1837 Hall on the campus of Mount Holyoke College. They identify as genderless. On the wall above Cavar's desk is a Pride flag and hanging from the wall above their bed is a Trans Pride flag.
Political, identity-related, and humorous buttons, pins, and patches cover the backpack of Sarah Cavar (19, turning 20 on Dec. 19, 2018; pronouns: they, them), a junior studying Critical Social Thought at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, on Wed., Nov. 28, 2018. They are seen here in their dorm room in 1837 Hall on the campus of Mount Holyoke College. They identify as genderless. Cavar said they bought the backpack at a thrift store during their first year at Mount Holyoke. Cavar says that the buttons on their backpack are symbols and art that they find meaningful.
A sign made by a friend featuring the name and preferred pronouns of Sarah Cavar (19, turning 20 on Dec. 19, 2018; pronouns: they, them) hangs on a bulletin board in Cavar's dorm in 1837 Hall at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, on Wed., Nov. 28, 2018. Cavar is a junior studying Critical Social Thought at Mount Holyoke College. They identify as genderless.
People sit in the fourth floor Reading Room in the Williston Library (part of Mount Holyoke College's Library, Information, and Technology Services (LITS)) at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, on Wed., Nov. 28, 2018.
A sign for a Gender Inclusive Restroom is seen in Blanchard Campus Center at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, on Wed., Nov. 28, 2018.
A sign for the Trans Day of Remembrance hangs outside the office of Kijua Sanders-McMurtry, Ph. D., the Vice President for Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer at Mount Holyoke College. Her office is seen here in Mary Lyon Hall at Mount Holyoke College's campus in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, on Mon., Nov. 19, 2018.
A sign reading "Libraries are for Everyone / Many hearts, one community" hangs on a bookshelf in the fourth floor Reading Room in the Williston Library (part of Mount Holyoke College's Library, Information, and Technology Services (LITS)) at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, on Wed., Nov. 28, 2018.
Sonya Stephens is the 19th President of Mount Holyoke College. She is seen here near her office in Mary Lyon Hall at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, on Mon., Nov. 19, 2018.
Kijua Sanders-McMurtry, Ph. D., is the Vice President for Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer at Mount Holyoke College. She is seen here in the Unity Space, a meeting area in the Blanchard Campus Center on Mount Holyoke College's campus in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, on Wed., Nov. 28, 2018. Sanders-McMurtry is new to the campus and is serving as the school's first Chief Diversity Officer. She says that the Unity Space is a place where she can encourage community building activities through dialogue and introspection on inclusion and justice with students and community members. She says the colorful bracelet she is wearing, like most accessories she wears, highlights black, green, and red, which are traditional colors of black unity. On the walls of the Unity Space are quilts made by students and community members around the theme of unity and inclusion.
A sign for Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, on Wed., Nov. 28, 2018.
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