The Biden administration’s Education Department has put Smith College’s identity as a women’s college under legal scrutiny, probing whether its inclusion of transgender women disqualifies it from protections reserved for single‑sex institutions under Title IX. The case pits competing definitions of womanhood and sex discrimination against each other in a high‑stakes test for gender policy in higher education.

Conservative-leaning outlets frame the investigation primarily as a challenge to what they call the erosion of single-sex protections. The Washington Times emphasizes that the Office for Civil Rights is examining “one of the nation’s largest all-women’s colleges” over its policy of admitting transgender women, which could jeopardize “federal protections reserved for single-sex schools.”¹ Another piece casts the probe as a response to Smith “admitting biological males and allowing them access to female dormitories, restrooms, locker rooms and athletic teams,” underscoring privacy and safety concerns.²

The Washington Examiner sharpens that argument by quoting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey: “An all-women’s college loses all meaning if it is admitting biological males,” she said, adding that such access “raises serious concerns about privacy, fairness, and compliance under federal law.”³ It highlights the complaint that Smith’s policy of accepting “cis, trans and nonbinary women” may forfeit its single-sex Title IX exception because the Education Department says the exemption does not extend to “subjective gender identity.”³

Liberal coverage, represented by CBS News, largely echoes the basic facts but shifts the framing. It notes that the Education Department “opened an investigation… for admitting transgender women,” portraying Smith primarily as an “all-women’s institution in Massachusetts” and avoiding the “biological males” language that dominates conservative reports.⁴

Similarities and differences

Across the spectrum, outlets agree that the investigation centers on whether Smith’s admissions policy is compatible with Title IX’s single-sex exemption. But conservatives stress a sex-essentialist view and emphasize threats to women’s spaces and legal protections, while liberal coverage normalizes “trans women” as women and presents the probe as a test of inclusive admissions rather than an existential challenge to women’s colleges.

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1. Education Dept. opens Title IX probe into Smith College over transgender admissions policy — The Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into Smith College, “one of the nation’s largest all-women’s colleges,” over its transgender admissions policy and potential loss of single-sex protections.

2. Trump administration opens probe into all-women Smith College for admitting biological males — Article describes a federal civil-rights investigation into Smith for “admitting biological males and allowing them access to female dormitories, restrooms, locker rooms and athletic teams.”

3. Education Department investigating women-only Smith College for allowing transgender students — Kimberly Richey: “An all-women’s college loses all meaning if it is admitting biological males,” and the Department says the Title IX exception does not apply to “subjective gender identity.”

4. Education Department investigating all-women's Smith College for admitting trans women — CBS reports the Education Department opened an investigation into Smith College, “an all-women's institution in Massachusetts,” for admitting transgender women.