Policy Update: September/October
- Summit College Club
- 9 hours ago
- 2 min read
Starting this month, SCC will share a bi-monthly AAUW Policy Update curated by our new chair of the Public Policy and Advocacy committee, Karen Weis. September's policy update is outlined below:
July 1, 2026 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Association of University Women (AAUW) expresses concern for the 6–3 decisions made by the U.S. Supreme Court in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox. The verdict allows states to bar transgender girls and women from participating on girls’ and women’s school sports teams. The decision does not uphold these bans. Schools and states with existing inclusive policies are permitted to keep them, and states can enact inclusive policies under this ruling.
In response AAUW CEO Gloria L. Blackwell issued the following statement:
"The Court’s ruling does not change AAUW’s position that transgender women and girls deserve the full protection of our civil rights laws."
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissenting, wrote: “A transgender woman penalized for being perceived as aggressive has experienced discrimination ‘on the basis of sex’ just as much as a cisgender woman has… Either way, the institution has imposed its gender-based expectations upon her. And either way, the institution may have violated Title IX.”
This ruling does not alter AAUW’s commitment to the full inclusion of transgender and nonbinary students in all areas of school life.
AAUW Weighs In: Policy Updates
Opposing the Rescission of ABA Standard 206 (8/19/26) — AAUW joined a coalition urging the American Bar Association to keep diversity and inclusion requirements in place for law school accreditation.
Concerns on the No Aid for Ghost Students Act (8/17/26) — AAUW flagged concerns to the Senate HELP Committee about the current version of this financial aid oversight bill.
Testifying Against Halting EEO-1 Data Collection (8/11/26) — AAUW joined partners in pushing back on the EEOC's proposal to stop collecting workforce demographic data. add dynamic values like name, email and more.
View this link to review policy updates in detail: https://www.aauw.org/resources/policy/documents
Karen Weis has been active in AAUW for 26 years. She started with the Cape May County, NJ branch, where she held several board positions, including newsletter editor, historian, and chair of various committees. During this period, she was also a joint member of the Atlantic County branch. Karen was also part of the team that created Tech Trek at Stockton University, a program launched in 2015 by the Atlantic and Cape May County branches.
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