Shelby Chestnut, the executive director of the Transgender Law Center, who is an Antioch graduate and chair of the school’s board of trustees, said the law is an effort to deter colleges from supporting students.
But navigating the law has become a challenge, especially at colleges like Antioch and Oberlin, campuses built on a bedrock of idealism and protest where many see the law as part of a wider attack on transgender students.
For some famously progressive colleges in Ohio, a new state law designed to keep transgender women from using women’s restrooms at schools is bringing a moment of soul-searching for students, alumni and administrators.
The bathroom law has sparked angst on campus and among some alumni, who see the administration's intention to comply with the law as an abdication of values by the school of nearly 3,000 students.
Oberlin has published policies saying the school will comply with the law taking effecting Tuesday and is offering counseling and a chance for students to ask to move out of their dorms.
