CAMBRIDGE, England – “American Charlie” is breaking down centuries-old traditions at the University of Cambridge.

Charlie Northrop, a 25-year-old male in the process of transitioning to a female, successfully lobbied St. Catharine’s College – a Cambridge school – to eradicate gender references from the formal dress code for dinners at the prestigious Formal Hall, The Huffington Post reports.

“I’m over the moon, it’s absolutely wonderful that it’s now been passed,” said Northrop, originally from Richmond, Indiana.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

“It wasn’t that there was much resistance, it’s just the new wording had to be sound and there was a lot of conversations between the college and the committee.”

Advocate.com reports St. Catherine’s previous formal dress policy was in place for 650 years before “American Charlie” came along.

Northrop began transitioning from a man to a woman in January, and soon after approached school officials about the formal dress code, which required students to wear “smart dress” defined as jacket, tie and trousers for men and a blouse and skirt or dress for women, Reuters reports.

“This makes Catz (nickname for St. Catharine’s) formals a place to express yourself in a new spectrum of ways,” Northrop wrote in an email to the student body, according to the student newspaper Varsity. “Men can wear dresses, women can wear suits, and non-binary people are free to define the outfits that feel most appropriate to them in a formal setting.”

Northrop said Cambridge inspired her to transition to a woman, and she’s proud of the recent change.

“It was when I got to Cambridge that it really became possible,” she told the Post. “The university is inspiring and full of such supportive people.”

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

St. Catharine’s College dean Mark Elliot announced the new wording of the dress code this week.

According to the Dean’s Notice:

Formal Hall is an occasion on which all members of St Catharine’s should wear gowns. Members and their guests must be dressed in suitably smart dress.  ‘Smart dress’ is defined without reference to considerations of gender identity or expression.  This means a suit (or trousers and jacket), a shirt with a collar, a tie, and shoes (not trainers or sandals), or equivalently formal dress.  The staff are instructed to refuse admission to anyone coming to Formal Hall improperly dressed.

American Charlie’s campaign to change St. Catharine’s formal dress code has also apparently prompted the 800-year-old Cambridge’s other colleges to follow suit. Clare College and Fitzwilliam College are also expected to adopt new policies, the Post reports.

“Clare College has already emailed Charlie to request materials, so that they might match St Catharine’s progressive ethos,” according to Varsity.

The move at St. Catharine’s comes two years after students pressured Cambridge officials into eliminating “gendered” requirements for the university’s graduation ceremony.

The campaign for that change was led by Charlie Bell, who told Varsity at the time that “The ease with which we were able to pass this through Council shows how sensible the university is, and how much on the side of students the administration is.”