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Posts published in “Opinions”

Trans Athletes Belong in Sports and Staying in the NCAA Helps Us Fight for Them

On Thursday, April 10, at the annual Celebrations event, the organizers referenced Smith’s recent announcement that they are complying with the NCAA Transgender Athlete Ban. The organizers stated Smith’s compliance is, “blatant discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression—a direct violation of Smith’s current non-discrimination policy.” They expressed their opposition and issued a call to action to the student body: “We vehemently oppose the College’s decision to comply and collaborate with fascism. As this policy is silently rolled out, we as a student body must continue to vocalize our dissent and support trans people on and off this campus.” Their statement reflected a larger, ongoing campus-wide debate on whether Smith should comply with this policy, not comply or pull out of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) entirely in protest.

What Smith Doesn’t Understand About Diversity

This article was originally published in the October 2024 print edition. What does true diversity look like in an era of systemic inequality? At a recent Smith College training conference, I encountered a reminder of the work that still lies ahead. The conference focused on refining our leadership skills, but what struck me as most compelling was the presentation of a “power wheel” that ranked marginalized identities based on their proximity to power. This graphic illustrated a profoundly outdated and two-dimensional understanding of diversity, reducing complex experiences to a hierarchy defined by race, class, sexuality and more.

Why Colleges Should Prioritize Self-Defense Training?

In a Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality seminar, Gender and Violence, taught by Professor Carrie Baker during the fall of 2024, a discussion on self-defense classes highlighted the availability — or lack thereof — of such resources at Smith. As early as the turn of the twentieth century, self-defense, particularly physical training, emerged as a means of personal and political empowerment for women.