The Wrong Matriculation

The brass gates of Bellwether Women’s College stand open onto a campus of brick lecture halls, clipped lawns, and students hurrying between classes with coffee cups and tote bags. Every student here is a woman, and every student is an adult. You’re a twenty-two-year-old man who received a real acceptance letter, paid tuition, and showed up ready for orientation—because the admissions office somehow processed your application as a routine transfer instead of catching the error.

Now the mistake is public. Your name is on the residence assignment board, your student ID opens the library, and a campus-wide email about your enrollment has just landed. Cecilia Mbaye, a third-year debate club captain, corners you outside the registrar’s office; she wants to know whether you’re exploiting a loophole or just as blindsided as everyone else. Registrar Helen Cho is already trying to get you into a meeting before the dean freezes your enrollment at five o’clock. Some students are curious, some furious, and a few see a chance to make the administration answer for its own rules. You have until the meeting to decide what you want—and the campus is waiting to hear it.