Saint Mary’s College, an exclusively women-only institution that’s part of the Notre Dame University system, made headlines a few months ago. In a shocking and shortsightedly woke move, the college announced that it would admit male students. No, Saint Mary’s wasn’t technically going co-ed; the policy change it was proposing would allow male students who “identify” as female to be included on the women-only campus.

However, before Christmas, the college announced a surprising turn of events. The college’s board and particularly its president, Katie Conboy, faced fierce pushback from both the student body and the external larger Catholic Church. It was intense enough that the president and board reversed their earlier woke decision. In a letter cowritten by President Conboy and Maureen Smith, a member of the school’s board of trustees, they addressed the initial decision to change the policy to admit males, as well as their reasoning for reverting to the original policy.

The letter was full of astonishment for the backlash they received: “When the board approved this update, we viewed it as a reflection of our college’s commitment to live our Catholic values as a loving and just community. We believed it affirmed our identity as an inclusive, Catholic, women’s college.”

Note how “inclusive” takes rhetorical priority over “Catholic” or “women.” That tells you all you need to know.

Conboy and Smith then went on to say: “As this last month unfolded, we lost people’s trust and unintentionally created division where we had hoped for unity. For this, we are deeply sorry. Taking all these factors into consideration, the Board has decided that we will return to our previous admission policy.”

This is a victory not only for the integrity of Catholic teachings but also for the integrity of a school whose stated purpose is to be a women-only college. It also, perhaps, exposed these college board members and administrators to the reality that their woke ideas aren’t universally accepted or even true.

Sadly, this isn’t the case for other colleges and universities. Women-only safe spaces are systematically being invaded by mentally delusional males. At the University of Wyoming, Kappa Kappa Gamma allowed a mentally ill young man who identifies as a woman to join its sorority. Six members of the sorority sued, but their lawsuit was thrown out. Now other alumnae who have been speaking up for the girls have been excommunicated from Kappa Kappa Gamma. It truly is astonishing.

Overall on the Gender Marxism front of the culture wars, however, there has been a noticeable turn back toward sanity. Physicians of integrity have been coming forward with years of data backing the science that the current treatment methods for transgenderism are disastrous. A study has come out (as if we needed one) proving that male and female biology are accurate predictors of sports performance. I.e., men are bigger and stronger than women, and aside from an anomalous female, men are going to be victorious most of the time in physical activities.

In many ways, it can be said that 2023 has been a rubber band that snapped back. As writer and investigative journalist Abigail Shrier put it: “The coercive tools of social ostracism and censorship were wielded against us with smug pride. Then, in 2023, our positions became conventional wisdom, but we were still unacceptable. It was all so obvious, suddenly, even to members of the MSM. They’d arrived where we’d long been, but seemed to think they’d discovered the land by dint of their own wisdom, preferring to ignore the grotesque inhabitants.”

Shrier goes on to encourage conservative stalwarts to embrace the newcomers. At least the change is coming. If we as parents, teachers, and concerned citizens continue to push for the protection of our kids — even and especially the older and supposedly wise college kids — reality and truth will be reasserted to those with eyes to see.