Alumni React: Mount Saint Charles’ Removal of Ban on Transgender Students

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Friday, March 11, 2016

GoLocal News Team and Kate Nagle

Last week, GoLocal first reported that the Parent-Student handbook of the Catholic school Mount Saint Charles in Woonsocket had added language in October of 2015 that banned transgender students from the school. Now, GoLocal has learned that the policy has been changed and the ban has been removed.

The GoLocal article was sparked by a group of young alumni who were shocked and opposed the ban.

On Wednesday, Mount alumni who had voiced their concerns about the previous policy weighed in with their reaction. 

The group “Concerned Alumni of Mount Saint Charles," who include as group organizers Dante Tavolaro, Alicia Bissonnette, Nicholas Martin, Julie Hamel McBrien, Samantha Ward, and Ryan Glode, released the following statement.

We, the alum who have expressed concerned about the policy regarding transgender students at Mount Saint Charles, have received word from the President, Herve Richer. He has been apologetic about the impact of the policy and appreciative of our efforts as alum to find a positive solution to the accommodation problem. He has invited us to a meeting to discuss possibilities of how to do this, and we are grateful that Mount is moving forward in this direction.

Mount has always been a home to us, and we are happy to see that they understand our concern and agree the language in the policy needs to be changed and a solution for accommodation implemented. We will be accepting an offer to go to a meeting with the administration to add our help and talent to finding a solution for all parties.

On Mount’s website, they have posted a new handbook for 2016-17 that omits the policy regarding transgender students. While we do not know if this is the final copy, we are glad to be part of the process of moving in the correct direction on this issue.

Recap of Events — and Reaction

On Tuesday, GoLocal provided a recap of events since breaking the story a week ago, when alumni had flagged the previous policy in the school’s handbook. 

“I’m happy to see the ban has been removed from the newest version of the handbook. My intention when posting about the policy was to make people aware that it existed and needed to be changed,” said Mary Hanahan, one of the first Mount alums to raise the issue. 

“It was encouraging to see how many people agreed that this policy unnecessarily excluded transgender students from the mount community,” said Hanahan. “High school is a formative time for students, and no student should be made to feel ostracized or insecure because the school has a policy on gender identity. It's also great to see that Mount has been so receptive to the concerns of its alumni.”

Mount alum David Coletta, who had started a change.org petition following last week’s developments, said the following on Tuesday.

“It's such a great feeling to see that the administration has listened to the concerns of the community and alumni, as well as the amazing local LGBTQ organizations which have gotten behind the cause. Work still needs to be done in terms of sensitivity education for administration and staff but this was an incredible step in the right direction.”

Mike Martin, with the popular YouTube show MathasGames, had posted an appeal to his alma mater that had garnered over ten thousand views; on Tuesday, he posted a new video in response to the school’s action to vacate the policy in their new handbook for 2016-2017.

“I absolutely believe that the concerned alumni and citizens had an impact,” Martin told GoLocal. “It was the pressure from those sources that had the school take a second look at the policy and in the end make the right decision by no longer discriminating against a group of people.

Mount's 2015-2016 (Old) Policy on Transgender Students

 

 

 

 

Mount's 2016-2017 (New) Policy, no longer includes Transgender Student Prohibition

Related Articles

• EXCLUSIVE: Mount Saint Charles Removes Ban on Transgender Students
• Mount Issues 2nd Statement - Apologizes for “Hurt Feelings” and Reaffirms Transgender Ban
• NEW: Catholic High School Mount Saint Charles’ Statement Defends Ban on Transgender Students
• NEW: Catholic High School, Mount Saint Charles Alumni Mobilize to Reverse Transgender Policy
• UPDATED: Catholic High School Mount Saint Charles Academy Bans Transgender Students

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