On June 25, 2026, Defending Education (DE) filed a complaint against Wellesley College with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. DE claims that Wellesley discriminates based on sex in violation of Title IX, a law banning sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funds.
Wellesley College was founded in 1870 to give women an education and the tools to become great leaders. The all-women college boasts: “For 150 years, Wellesley has remained true to its founding mission: to educate women who will make a difference.” This is not the case.
In 2015, Wellesley made anyone who identifies as a woman — including biological men — eligible for admission. Now, biological males are housed with female students in college dorms. Since Wellesley dorms do not have separate bathrooms for men and women, the college has effectively done away with female-only private spaces in dorms.
The Department of Education makes clear that Title IX covers all of a school’s operations, including what happens in its buildings. That includes the campus dorms and the bathrooms inside them. Wellesley’s policies deny women safety, privacy, and equal educational opportunity — and so appear to violate Title IX.
Defending Education urges the Department to investigate every claim in its complaint, fix Wellesley’s illegal policies and practices, and order the right remedies.
