Nashville private school says anyone who identifies as female can apply
By Marissa Sulek
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WSMV) — A Nashville all-girls private school sent out a statement this week saying anyone who identifies as female can apply. Harpeth Hall says they have always allowed any female students to fill out an application.
Courtney Vick is a proud 2008 graduate of Harpeth Hall — a school now taking their own stance.
“I received an email from Harpeth Hall the other day, and I am very proud of them for sticking up for it,” Vick said.
The statement was sent to all students, parents, faculty and alumni this week.
It says: “Harpeth Hall is a girls school” and “Any student who identifies as a girl may apply to our school.”
It’s a step to include transgender individuals, which is something Vick supports.
“I don’t think people are going to knock down the doors and say, ‘Hey, I want to rush to Harpeth Hall and be a student,’” Vick said. “I hope they would as an alum because I had such an exceptional experience. But, I do hope that you have some students who previously didn’t feel comfortable apply to Harpeth Hall now say this is an option for me.”
The statement says all females can apply, but WSMV 4 wanted to know if they’ll be admitted. We asked Harpeth Hall that question, and while they wouldn’t answer by phone, they gave us the following statement:
“There is no change in Harpeth Hall’s admission policies. For every application, there is a lengthy process before a student is admitted to the school. Like most independent schools, we receive a large number of applications each year for a limited number of openings.”
“I think that they’ll look at it by a case-by-case basis,” Vick said.
Vick says we’ll see who they admit later, but she knows this clarification is one schools across the country will have to make.
“To be one of the first single sex schools to take a stance on it, you’re going to draw a lot of attention from that,” Vick said.
WSMV 4 also reached out to Montgomery Bell Academy, a private school for boys. They say they are not ready to take a similar stance and will continue to accept students born biologically male.
We asked St. Cecilia Academy the same question. They did not get back to us.
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