Delta Gamma States Transgender Member Policy

Tim Burke, Manley Burke, tburke@manleyburke.com

In a recent statement regarding sorority recruitment at the University of Alabama, the National Delta Gamma Fraternity expressed its membership policy as “membership is open to women and transgendered persons who identify themselves as women.”

Delta Gamma is not the sole women only organization willing to consider the admission of transgender individuals who self-identify as women.  Similarly, Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts and Mills College in Oakland, California – both of which are historically women’s only colleges – have announced their intentions to accept any qualified student who is female or identifies as a woman.  Last year at Ball State University a local sorority composed of transgender students, all of whom identified themselves as female, was accepted as an associate member of the campus Panhellenic.  In contrast, a local group at University of California at Davis has generated controversy with its application for an associate membership in the campus Panhellenic.  The difference is the local group at U.C. Davis identifies itself as welcoming any gender, including males, as members.

No doubt, there will be more news on the transgender front as this issue continues to develop.