Prince Alfred College will allow a student identifying as female to remain at the boys-only school

An elite boys-only college in Adelaide will let a student who now identifies as female complete her education after she gave a “powerful” speech to 150 classmates.

Prestigious Adelaide boys’ school Prince Alfred College will allow a student transitioning to a female to stay enrolled and complete their study for the first time.

Headmaster Bradley Fenner wrote to parents on Tuesday evening to share that the Year 12 student will remain at the college.

“This morning, a student who has been at Prince Alfred College since the Early Learning Centre has told her peers that she is transgender, identifies as a woman and henceforth will be known as Alice,” Mr Fenner said in the letter.

“The response from the Year 12 cohort was, as we would have hoped and expected, both respectful and supportive.

“Alice has been dealing with gender dysphoria for some time and has been well-supported in her journey by a range of professionals, both within and outside the college.

“We are aware of some transgender PAC Old Scholars, but Alice is the first student to transition whilst at the college. It was Alice’s desire and preference to remain at Prince Alfred College and we support her fully in this.”

Prince Alfred College . Picture: James Knowler / @jkcrewphotos

Alice bravely told 150 Year 12 students about her identifying as a female on Tuesday.

“I thought it was very powerful when she spoke to her peers, to the other Year 12 students on Tuesday,” Mr Fenner told ABC Radio Adelaide on Thursday.
“She made the point, ‘this is who I am and this is who I’ve always been’, so for her, in that sense, it’s not a transition as it may appear to be but it’s very much a statement about who she is.

“She is a living embodiment of our college motto … which is: do brave deeds and endure, and that’s exactly what she’s done.”

Alice is in discussions with the school about an appropriate uniform for her.

Prince Alfred College headmaster Bradley Fenner said fellow students were supporting Alice, in line with the school’s ethos of inclusivity and respect. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

Mr Fenner said the college would remain an all-boys school but was proud to have a transgender student.

“We know that there is a certain proportion of the population that is transgender and schools are going to have to deal with that,” he said.

PAC has been a boys-only school since a small number of girls studied there in World War II.

Parents at the school told The Australian they supported the handling of the matter.

“It does raise a few issues because the whole school has only ever been geared around having boys,” one parent said.

“I think it is great that the boys have been so welcoming and accepting and apparently the process by which she explained her new life was very moving and they are all supporting her.

“It does raise a few logistic questions, though, around things like the use of the toilets and so on in what has only ever been a boys’ school.

“There is also the other question of it still being a non co-ed school which isn’t open to students who were actually born girls.”

Parents are being encouraged to read websites designed to assist with questions about transgender people, including trans101.org.au and minus18.org.au