Here are some updates on my efforts to advance civil rights for all in higher education by challenging violations of Title IX’s prohibition of discrimination based on sex.
1. As another example of an American university engaging in illegal sex discrimination, California State University Long Beach (CSULB) recently introduced a single-gender, female-only program “Women’s Night on the Strength Floor” that takes place every Wednesday from 5 – 6 p.m. according to posts on Facebook and Twitter. I was contacted by an anonymous male CSULB student who was shocked and offended when he was prevented from working out in the designated women-only area in the university’s Recreation Center last Wednesday, and sent me this email:
I was unaware of “Women’s Night on Strength Floor” when I went to workout at the gym in the main area, and I was denied access because I am a male. I was told that this is a time for only woman to work out and that it ends at 6 p.m. I am writing this email to you asking for assistance. I would like to bring attention to this issue on campus that I do not agree with. I also do not have any experience in handling these types of situations or navigating it legally. As I feel if I do anything to bring attention or disagree with this publicly I will be targeted on campus. I will like to keep my identity confidential.
After receiving the student’s email, I sent the following email to the CSULB’s Title IX officer:
Dear Assistant Vice President of Equity & Diversity:
According to your university’s TITLE IX NOTICE OF NON-DISCRIMINATION, “The California State University, which includes Cal State Long Beach (CSULB), does not discriminate on the basis of gender, which includes sex and gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation in its education programs or activities.”
And yet your university currently offers a program that does discriminate on the basis of gender and sex in a program/activity that does clearly violate Title IX’s prohibition of discrimination based on sex. Specifically, on October 16, the California State University Long Beach Student Recreation and Wellness Center sponsored the “Women’s Night on the Strength Floor” from 5-6 PM and “this program will continue [weekly] at the same time for the rest of the semester. The floor will be closed for women only.”
By restricting the gym floor to women only and denying non-female students, faculty and staff access to a university space is a form of sex discrimination that is not allowed under Title IX, and I would respectfully ask you to investigate this violation. I am aware of a specific male individual at your university, who wants to remain anonymous, who was prevented from using this public space during the most recent “Women’s Night on the Strength Floor,” which is a clear act of sex discrimination that violates Title IX.
There was a similar situation last year at Stanford University, which also attempted to violate Title IX by offering a “women-only weight training environment.” After it was brought to their attention and received media coverage, the university quickly ended that program for its obvious violation of Title IX’s prohibition of sex discrimination. I believe that the university eventually agreed to offer an equal number of women-only training hours and men-only training hours in the weight training area to comply with Title IX and avoid jeopardizing federal financial assistance.
I would suggest that the only way CSULB can legally continue to offer a “Women’s Night on the Strength Floor” and not violate Title IX would be to follow the Stanford resolution by offering a “Men’s Night on the Strength Floor” for an equivalent amount of time when the floor would be closed for men only.
Please promptly investigate my complaint of a serious Title IX violation at your university. I would respectfully suggest that a 14-day period should be sufficient to resolve this violation, and if I do not hear from you by then I will file a federal Title IX complaint with the Office for Civil Rights.
Respectfully,
Professor Mark J. Perry
The Stanford University situation was covered on CD here and here and generated this comment “This is not even a close call, so obviously a violation of Title IX and Stanford’s own policies that I have no idea how this passed even initial scrutiny from the Stanford’s Legal Department.” It’s possible that CSULB may have already realized it’s on shaky legal ground and in violation of Title IX because it just today removed mention of the “Women’s Night on the Strength Floor” program on the Student Recreation and Wellness Center website. But maybe that’s just a coincidence.
But one has to wonder: Do universities like CSULB really not know they are violating Title IX’s prohibition of sex discrimination when they introduce illegal single-gender programs like the “Women’s Night on the Strength Floor”? Or do they know that they are engaging in illegal sex discrimination in violation of Title IX and just not care because such violations have become part of the “DNA of higher education”? After all, the Office for Civil Rights doesn’t go out looking for violations of Title IX to investigate, they only respond to complaints when filed. And since students and faculty, like the CSULB student and the many faculty who have contacted me to file Title IX complaints on their behalf while remaining anonymous, are so reluctant to publicly file Title IX complaints out of fear of retaliation and retribution, universities blatantly and knowingly engage in illegal sex discrimination knowing they are not likely to be challenged.
And then one also has to wonder why the growing armies of university diversity officers (“diversicrats”) aren’t monitoring the frequent cases of illegal sex discrimination that take place so frequently on our college campuses. As much as we hear about universities’ commitment to “diversity, equity and inclusion” they frequently practice “uniformity, inequity and exclusion” when it comes to offerering single-gender, female-only programs like “Women’s Night on the Strength Floor.”
2. In response to more than 60 Title IX complaints that I have filed so far to challenge illegal, single-gender, female-only programs at universities around the country, the Office for Civil Rights has now opened 25 investigations at the following universities:
- Boston University
- Brown University
- Duke University
- Florida Tech University
- Georgia Tech University
- Grand Valley State University
- Indiana University
- Iowa State University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Michigan State University
- Rice University
- Rochester Institute of Technology
- Rutgers University
- Saginaw Valley University
- Texas Tech University
- UC-Berkeley
- University of Central Arkansas
- University of Detroit-Mercy
- University of Michigan
- University of Minnesota
- University of Rhode Island (1)
- University of Rhode Island (2)
- University of Wisconsin-Stout
- Vermont Technical College
- Wayne State University
Cases that have been resolved include Title IX complaints against the University of Michigan-Flint (2), Eastern Michigan University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Florida, and Clemson University. Updates on the 25 open investigtations to follow.
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