Category: Scholarships

DEI Programs Must be Eliminated to Reverse Declining Numbers of College Men

Post author By Edward Bartlett
Post date March 7, 2024

PRESS RELEASE

Rebecca Hain: 513-479-3335

Email: info@saveservices.org

DEI Programs Must be Eliminated to Reverse Declining Numbers of College Men

WASHINGTON / March 11, 2024 – A shocking new report was issued last week that documents 12 areas in which globally, men and boys are lagging behind women (1). These areas include education, health, homelessness, unfair treatment by the legal system, and more. In American colleges, for example, men now comprise only 42% of all undergraduate students (2).

Observers implicate a climate of anti-male hostility at college campuses (3), which can be traced to several developments in recent decades:

In 1979, the Department of Education issued a new Title IX policy on women’s sports that served to eliminate many male sports teams (4).
In 2011, the Obama Administration’s Dear Colleague Letter served to stereotype men as sexual predators (5). (Ironically, the Centers for Disease Control reports that men are victims of sexual assault by females nearly as often as women who are victims of rape (6)).
A growing number of women’s studies programs that promote Marxist-inspired theories of “patriarchal oppression” (7).
Hundreds of universities sponsor female-only scholarships and leadership programs (8).

Adding to the onslaught, colleges began to develop “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) programs in the latter part of the 2010s that granted preferences to Blacks and women. Among the 10 most highly paid DEI administrators at Ohio State University, for example, nine were female (9).

Viewing DEI programs as a “mortal threat to the American way of life” (10), nine states already have enacted laws to rein in DEI programs: Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah (11). These laws seek to prohibit colleges from having DEI offices or staff, ban mandatory diversity training, forbid the use of diversity statements in hiring and promotions, and bar colleges from considering race, sex, or national origin in admissions or employment (12).

These efforts were given a boost last June by the Supreme Court decision against Harvard College and the University of North Carolina, in which the SCOTUS ruled that considering a student’s race violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (13).

In theory, DEI programs and Title IX have opposite goals. While DEI seeks to afford preferences to women, Title IX seeks to end sex discrimination against men.

But in practice, the DEI mindset has infiltrated many Title IX offices. For example, the Association of Title IX Administrators, known as ATIXA, sponsored a conference on “True Equity at the Intersection of Title IX and DEI” (14). In its list of groups affected by “Inequitable Practices,” the program lists Students of Color, LGBTQIA+, and Women. But the fact that beleaguered men are facing an increasingly hostile environment somehow escaped the notice of ATIXA.

As a result, we are seeing cases like the Title IX investigator at the University of Maryland who endorsed a sexist Facebook quote by William Golding that said, “I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men, they are far superior and always have been” (15).

If lawmakers want to assure the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution is not relegated to the dustbin of history, they need to move swiftly to ban Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs at colleges in their state.

Citations:

Campus Scholarships Sexual Assault Title IX

PR: On Title IX Anniversary, SAVE Deplores Widespread Discrimination of Male Students

Post author By Edward Bartlett
Post date June 24, 2021

PRESS RELEASE

Rebecca Stewart: 513-479-3335

Email: info@saveservices.org

On Title IX Anniversary, SAVE Deplores Widespread Discrimination of Male Students

WASHINGTON / June 24, 2021 – June 23 marked the 49^th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, which was enacted in 1972 to combat sex discrimination in schools. Regrettably, SAVE highlights an epidemic of discriminatory practices against college students who are male — a problem that appears to have worsened in recent years.

Sex-discriminatory practices have been documented at universities and colleges across the nation, including at a number of elite institutions. A recent article, for example, reported that Stanford University supports 33 programs that openly discriminate against males (1).

The sex bias is confirmed by judicial decisions, male-excluding scholarships, and female-only campus programs, which are summarized below.

Judicial Decisions

On June 15, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on a case involving a former student at the University of Denver. The decision revealed a pattern of pervasive unfairness to men: “John highlights that the University failed to formally investigate any of the 21 sexual-misconduct complaints brought by men from 2016 to 2018…. In sum, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to John, we are satisfied that a reasonable jury could find that John’s sex was a motivating factor in the University’s decision to expel him.” (2)

Other appellate court rulings of prejudicial campus practices against men are: Does 1-2 v. Regents of the Univ. of Minnesota, Schwake v. Arizona Bd. of Regents, Doe v. Oberlin College, Doe v. University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, Doe v. University of Mississippi, and Doe v. Columbia University. Nineteen trial court decisions have confirmed anti-male bias, as well (3).

Male-Excluding Scholarships

Title IX’s implementing regulation, 34 CFR 106, prohibits schools from offering scholarships that, “On the basis of sex, provide different amounts or types of such assistance, limit eligibility for such assistance which is of any particular type or source, apply different criteria, or otherwise discriminate.” University responsiveness to federal investigations of alleged Title IX violations has ranged from cooperative to resistant.

On April 22, 2020, for example, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened a Title IX investigation against the University of Idaho for offering 14 scholarships that were restricted to or stated a preference for female students. On June 22, 2021, the OCR concluded its investigation after the university altered its criteria for scholarship awards in order to comply with Title IX requirements.

In contrast, institutions such as Tulane University apparently have not acted in good faith. On June 18, 2018, a complaint was filed with OCR alleging Tulane was treating men unfairly by “discriminating in the provision of financial assistance of the basis of sex.” As a result, the university signed a voluntary resolution agreement promising it would cease the illegal actions by September 6, 2019. (4) Unfortunately, a 2020 follow-up review revealed the university was offering 10 female-specific scholarships, but only three scholarships for male students. In response, the OCR opened a new investigation of the recalcitrant university.

The Office for Civil Rights currently has 140 open investigations of universities for scholarships that exclude male students (5).

Female-Only Programs

A number of universities have established a variety of programs that cater exclusively to females. University of Michigan professor Mark Perry has filed hundreds of Title IX complaints against schools that sponsor leadership institutes, fellowships, summer programs, and other initiatives that openly discriminate against men (6).

Former Department of Education official Adam Kissel has documented the irony of Joe Biden’s alma mater, the University of Delaware, a school that “pervasively discriminates in favor of women and against men.” Most of the violations lie with its Lerner College’s Women’s Leadership Initiative, Kissel notes (7).

The Office for Civil Rights currently has 98 open investigations of universities for programs that exclude male students (8). This number is likely to increase as the OCR processes newly filed Title IX complaints.

Praise for Cardona’s Recent Statement

SAVE applauds Secretary Miguel Cardona’s recent affirmation that Title IX is “the strongest tool we have to protect every student’s right to equal access to educational opportunities free from sex discrimination.” (9) And universities that discriminate against men have become a focus of numerous media accounts (10).

Currently, males constitute only 43% of all undergraduate students (11). If universities were to institute sex-specific programs, their efforts logically should be focused on helping men.

Citations:

https://www.thecollegefix.com/nearly-three-dozen-stanford-programs-discriminate-against-males-complaint-alleges/
https://www.saveservices.org/2021/06/case-summary-doe-v-university-of-denver/
https://www.saveservices.org/2021/06/27-judicial-decisions-have-documented-the-problem-of-campus-sex-bias/
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/investigations/more/06182230-b.pdf
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/investigations/open-investigations/tix.html In the Type of Discrimination box, select “Title IX – Single Sex Scholarships”. As of May 28, 2021.
https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/the-year-in-review-an-update-on-my-efforts-to-challenge-title-ix-violations-in-higher-education-and-advance-civil-rights-for-all/
https://thefederalist.com/2021/02/18/bidens-alma-mater-bans-men-from-posts-and-scholarships-just-for-being-men/
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/investigations/open-investigations/tix.html In the Type of Discrimination box, select “Title IX – Single Sex Campus Programs”. As of May 28, 2021).
https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/secretary-cardona-title-ix-strongest-tool-protecting-educational-opportunities-free-sex-discrimination
https://www.saveservices.org/equity/
https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98

Law & Justice Legal Scholarships Title IX

Single-sex scholarships singled out

Post author By Deanna Brown
Post date December 9, 2020

2 state colleges’ awards for women face U.S. bias inquiries

by EMILY WALKENHORST ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE | December 6, 2020 at 3:43 a.m.

FILE – The campus of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway is shown Oct. 27, 2008. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

Two Arkansas universities have joined the fast-growing ranks of institutions under federal investigation for offering “single-sex scholarships” — namely, scholarships for women.

The U.S. Department of Education this year has opened at least 120 Title IX investigations into colleges and universities for offering “single-sex scholarships.” Two of those investigations were at the University of Central Arkansas and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

The number of investigations of “single-sex scholarships” opened in 2020 and still active top the number of active investigations filed this year in every other Title IX category, including investigations into sexual violence and sexual harassment. Those categories combine for only 103 investigations opened this year and still active, according to federal data analyzed by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

The increase in the scholarships investigations is largely because of complaints filed by a single person, said Brett Sokolow, president of the Association of Title IX Administrators. Mark Perry, a finance professor at the University of Michigan-Flint, has filed numerous complaints alleging unfairness to men. In blog posts and letters, Perry has likened his fight against single-sex academic programs, such as science summer camps for girls, as an effort to “end gender discrimination” and to end “gender apartheid.”

In many cases, the investigations have pressured colleges to either discontinue their women-only scholarship programs or make them available to men, as well. If successful in Arkansas, about a dozen privately funded scholarships would have to change.

O p p o n e n t s of t h o s e changes contend that the female-only scholarships and programs are critical to encouraging greater representation of women in certain academic fields dominated by men, such as science and engineering.

While 127 investigations into single-sex scholarships and 69 investigations into single-sex programs remain open, Sokolow acknowledged female-targeted scholarships and programs are ubiquitous. He said hundreds or thousands of schools could have such programs or scholarships.

“It’s pretty widespread,” he said.

Under Title IX, Sokolow said, academic institutional scholarships, whether provided by the institution or its foundation, must be distributed roughly 50-50 to women and men. That’s regardless of the student-body makeup.

In contrast, in athletics, the distribution must be proportional to the gender makeup of the student body. If 60% of students are women, roughly 60% of the school’s athletes should be women and roughly 60% of the dollar amount of athletic scholarships awarded should go to women.

Federal Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act data, examined by the newspaper, show that proportional distribution of athletic scholarships is not followed almost anywhere in Arkansas. Most student-athletes are male, and they receive most of the scholarship money. The scholarship money, however, is often distributed proportionally to the gender makeup of the student-athlete populations.

The idea behind those rules assumed that more men would play sports and that student bodies would be about 50-50 men and women, Sokolow said.

Only one of those assumptions proved to be true in the long run. Once outnumbered, more women now attend college than men, nationwide and in Arkansas.

Data provided by a handful of Arkansas universities show that most institutional academic scholarship money, not including foundation-provided scholarships, goes toward women. In most years, on average, however, female students received less in aid than the average male student.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette requested the information from all 10 of Arkansas’ traditional four-year public universities and many said they did not track it or did not respond. The newspaper obtained data outside of athletics from only five.

Colleges and universities commonly fail to track academic scholarship distribution data by race or gender, Sokolow said. But the investigations are causing many to start paying attention, he said.

The federal education department is investigating the University of Central Arkansas and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for women-only academic scholarships financed by their foundations.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette obtained investigative records so far in each case. The complaints weren’t included and the complainants’ identities have been redacted.

The federal education department is investigating seven scholarships awarded to UCA students and at least three awarded to UALR students.

Many of the scholarships target academic programs in which women are less represented, such as science. Some are for business students.

Neither university offers scholarships for only men.

UALR also is under investigation for a single-sex program, based on a complaint from a person who was denied admission into a program.

The investigations have sought data on scholarships awarded, which the universities told the newspaper they have complied with.

The investigations remain open, though many colleges have attempted to resolve the complaints prior to any formal findings, by ending the scholarship programs or opening the scholarships up to more than women.

Sokolow often advises schools to do that. That’s easier when schools are the sponsors of the scholarships, he said. If the scholarships are provided through the foundation, the benefactor must agree to change the terms of the gift.

Others argue the schools shouldn’t have to do those things and the complaints should be tossed.

Earlier this year, the National Women’s Law Center, which has spoken out against the single-sex scholarship complaints, published a guide arguing that academic programs and scholarships targeting a single gender are allowed under Title IX. The guide notes the law states that schools can “take affirmative action to overcome the effects of conditions which resulted in limited participation therein by persons of a particular sex.”

“For example … a school can provide targeted programming to women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) because women are underrepresented in these fields,” the law center contends. “Schools use affirmative action to promote diversity and to ensure that past discrimination and exclusion do not perpetuate ongoing exclusion.”

Campus Scholarships Sex Stereotyping Sexual Harassment Title IX Title IX Equity Project

PR: Recent Central Oklahoma Resolution Agreement Highlights Problem of Widespread Title IX Non-Compliance

Post author By saveadmin
Post date October 13, 2020

Contact: Rebecca Stewart

Telephone: 513-479-3335

Email: info@saveservices.org

Recent Central Oklahoma Resolution Agreement Highlights Problem of Widespread Title IX Non-Compliance

WASHINGTON / October 13, 2020 – A recent Resolution Agreement between the federal Office for Civil Rights and the University of Central Oklahoma reveals continuing problems with Title IX compliance on college campuses. In this case, the University offered a “Computer Forensics Summer Academy and STEM CareerBuilder for Girls” that stated the program was “unavailable for male students.” The Resolution Agreement was signed by UCO president Patti Neuhold-Ravikumar on September 30 (1).

The UCO Resolution Agreement highlights the problem of widespread sex bias at colleges across the country in the areas of sex-specific programs, female-only scholarships, Title IX regulatory compliance, and sex stereotyping:

Sex-Specific Programs: Professor Mark Perry has filed 231 complaints to date with the Office for Civil Rights alleging Title IX violations, among which the Office for Civil Rights has already opened 80 investigations. His complaints address a broad gamut of sex-specific programs, including female-only STEM academies, leadership development efforts, gym exercise hours, study lounges, and more (1).

Female-Only Scholarships: Over the past two years, the SAVE Title IX Equity Project has identified hundreds of scholarships that are reserved for female students. For example, the University of Missouri-Columbia offers 70 female-specific scholarships, and only one male-specific scholarship. To date, the Office for Civil Rights has opened 121 investigations into these sex-discriminatory scholarships (2). These biased offerings have attracted extensive media attention (3).

Title IX Regulatory Compliance: The new Title IX regulation, which became effective on August 14, was designed to end sex bias against students accused of sexual harassment. One recent review concluded that some colleges have sought to evade the new Title IX requirements, such as cross-examination by an advisor. But at the University of St. Thomas, for example, investigators are instructed to make credibility determinations before the accused student has a meaningful chance to defend himself (4). To date, SAVE has filed OCR complaints against 15 colleges alleging failure to post their Title IX training materials.

Sex Stereotyping: Title IX has long been understood to address the problem of sex-based stereotyping (5). For example, the new Department of Education regulation advises that any Title IX training materials “must not rely on sex stereotypes.” (6)

Many universities offer courses that examine topics such as “patriarchy,” which has been defined as an “unjust social system that subordinates, discriminates or is oppressive to women.” (7) According to one widely used college textbook, patriarchy causes “women everywhere [to] suffer restrictions, oppression and discrimination.” (8) The fashioners of such “unjust social systems” are purported to be males. Such depictions serve to stereotype male students.

Following are examples of such negative stereotypes:

Georgetown University professor Christine Fair recently published a guidebook titled “Wanted: Smash Patriarchy.” The front cover of the book depicts the silhouette of a man (9).
Five University of Massachusetts professors have blamed patriarchy for women’s mental “fragmentation.” (10)
Michael Olenick enrolled in a Women’s Studies course at the University of Minnesota, where he reportedly was lectured on “theories about world conspiracies dedicated to repressing and exploiting women.”

A recent Executive Order authorizes the Department of Education and other federal agencies to suspend funding to any institution that promotes concepts that “an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive.” (11)

College presidents and other administrators need to assure Title IX compliance and to assure curricular offerings avoid sex stereotypes.

Links:

#MeToo Civil Rights Department of Education Discrimination Due Process Legal Office for Civil Rights Scholarships Sex Stereotyping Title IX Title IX Equity Project Training

Public University Stops Banning Males From Federally Funded Program to Resolve Federal Investigation

Post author By saveadmin
Post date October 8, 2020

Allowed to avoid admitting guilt for violating Title IX

The University of Central Oklahoma received nearly $831,000 in federal taxpayer dollars to run a computer and STEM camp for high schoolers that violated Title IX.

Following a complaint by University of Michigan-Flint economist Mark Perry, whose side gig is challenging educational programs that exclude disfavored groups (usually males and whites), the program is nominally accepting all students, not just girls.

Also a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Perry wrote on his blog Monday that the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights informed him of the resolution at UCO.

By his count, 27 of his 231 complaints have been resolved “in my favor,” with more than 80 still under investigation by OCR. He expects all of them to end in his favor too, “given the clarity” of Title IX “and the clear violations” by colleges.

Originally described as a “Computer Forensics Program & an Education-Career Pathway for Girls,” according to its National Science Foundation grant page, the program repeatedly emphasized that it was only for girls. Perry said the university’s website for the program just recently removed application language that explicitly said the program is “unavailable for male students.”

An image of the original page with the word “Girls” in the title and description is still available from its website, though the application page that explicitly excludes male students does not appear to be cached anywhere The College Fix could find. The illegal program was funded by corporate sponsors and partners including Apple, IBM, Inciter, CGI and Stelar.

Perry said he learned about the program through the parents of a high school boy who wanted to apply but saw the no-males language on the application page. The economist filed the complaint under his own name – as he always does – to protect their anonymity.

The taxpayer-funded university has removed all sex-specific language from the content of the website, though it still only shows girls and its domain is still ComputerAcademyforGirls.com. Perry said OCR told him the federal office is “still in the monitoring stage” for the university to comply with the “Voluntary Resolution Agreement,” which requires UCO to “eliminate any suggestion” that the program is “for a single sex.”

Perry noted that UCO President Patti Neuhold-Ravikumar herself signed the agreement, which “seems to be an indication of the seriousness of violating federal civil rights laws.” (He posted images of the two-page print agreement, dated Sept. 30.)

As with other OCR resolutions, however, UCO was allowed to avoid admitting guilt and it won’t face any financial penalties, he continued:

Perhaps that’s why so many universities knowingly violate Title IX — the worst-case scenario is that they get caught like UCO, make the necessary corrections to their Title IX violations so that they don’t jeopardize their federal funding, but without any serious consequences and without actually even having to admit to the violation!??

The economist also denounced the National Science Foundation for funding “hundreds” of programs that exclude males at colleges, including the College of William and Mary and University of Wisconsin System:

And most of the time, hundreds of violations of Title IX like UCO’s go undetected and unreported, often because those who are aware of the violations are unwilling to complain or report the violation, out of fear of retaliation, to the university’s Title IX office or the Office for Civil Rights.

Perry said OCR has notified him of five more investigations opened into his complaints in the past month, against the University of Virginia, Florida Gulf Coast University, University of South Alabama, Youngstown State University and University of Maryland. All are offering programs reserved for females.

UVA’s program is one of “several dozen” programs for “female leadership/entrepreneurship/negotiation” that illegally exclude men, he said, naming 20 other colleges with such programs against which he has filed complaints.

Source: https://www.thecollegefix.com/public-university-stops-banning-males-from-federally-funded-program-to-resolve-federal-investigation/

Campus Department of Education Office for Civil Rights Scholarships

PR: Growing Number of Schools Being Investigated for Title IX Violations of Sex-Specific Scholarships

Post author By saveadmin
Post date July 13, 2020

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Rebecca Stewart

Telephone: 513-479-3335

Email: info@saveservices.org

Growing Number of Schools Being Investigated for Title IX Violations of Sex-Specific Scholarships

WASHINGTON / July 14, 2020 – Title IX administrators are placing their institutions at risk of a burdensome OCR investigation as colleges continue to violate federal requirements banning scholarships that discriminate on the basis of sex. Title IX’s regulation 34 CFR 106.37(a) prohibits schools from offering scholarships that, “On the basis of sex, provide different amounts or types of such assistance, limit eligibility for such assistance which is of any particular type or source, apply different criteria, or otherwise discriminate.” (1)

On March 16, 2020, the SAVE Title IX Equity Project issued a press release identifying 237 schools that offered sex-scholarships that discriminate against male students (2). In response to complaints filed with the Office for Civil Rights, 84 new investigations were opened, with additional complaints still under consideration by the federal agency (3).

In the month of June, OCR opened investigations for single-sex scholarship violations against the following schools:

Auburn University, AL
University of Central Arkansas
Colorado State University-Fort Collins
University of Hawaii System
Boise State University
College of Western Idaho
Ivy Tech Community College, IN
Fort Hays State University, KS
University of Kansas-Lawrence
University of Louisville, KY
Montgomery College, MD
Community College of Baltimore County
University of Missouri-Columbia
University of Missouri-Kansas City
University of Missouri-St. Louis
Montana State University-Great Falls College
University of Montana-Missoula
East Carolina University, NC
Central Community College, NE
Metropolitan Community College, NE
Southeast Community College, NE
University of Nebraska-Omaha
New Hampshire Technical Institute-Concord’s Community College
Truckee Meadows Community College, NV
Kent State University, OH
Chemeketa Community College, OR
University of Memphis
University of Tennessee
Brigham Young University-Provo, UT
Weber State University, UT
Virginia Commonwealth University
Bellevue College, WA
University of Washington-Seattle
Washington State University
Madison Area Technical College, WI
Central Wyoming College

Two of the investigations involve allegations of particularly egregious misconduct. The University of Missouri-Columbia offers 70 scholarships to female students and only 1 scholarship to male students. Similarly, Auburn University in Alabama offers 67 scholarships to females and only 1 scholarship to male students (4).

Tulane University, an institution with not only a history of being investigated by OCR for sexual discrimination but also a history of offering female only scholarships (5), has again found itself under OCR’s microscope. Although Tulane entered into a Resolution Agreement with OCR in 2019 (6), OCR is currently evaluating yet another complaint filed in April against the institution for allegedly violating federal requirements that bar sex-discriminatory scholarships.

Mark Perry, an economist at University of Michigan-Flint who himself files OCR complaints against schools with single-sex campus programs, recently opined, “Universities are for the first time being challenged for violating Title IX by offering single sex programs/scholarships, as they continue to live in the past, as if we’re still in the 1960s or 1970s, by pretending that women are handicapped and disadvantaged.” (7)

These findings highlight how university administrators and general counsel need to exercise greater oversight to correct discriminatory practices or risk a costly investigation by the federal Office for Civil Rights.

Citations:

Campus Department of Education Scholarships Title IX Equity Project

PR: The 85 Worst Universities in the Nation Offering Scholarships that Discriminate on the Basis of Sex

Post author By saveadmin
Post date March 16, 2020

Contact: Rebecca Stewart

Telephone: 513-479-3335

Email: info@saveservices.org

The 85 Worst Universities in the Nation Offering Scholarships that Discriminate on the Basis of Sex

WASHINGTON / March 16, 2020 – The Title IX Equity Project today is releasing a list of 85 colleges and universities in the nation with severe violations of the federal Title IX law that bars sex discrimination in schools. These 85 institutions offer at least 10 more scholarships for female students, compared to the number of scholarships for male students. The 85 colleges are located in 34 states across the nation: AL, AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD, MA, MN, MS, MO, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OR, PA, RI, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, and WY.

One of the worst offenders in the country is the University of Missouri – Columbia, which offers 70 scholarships for female students, and one for male students. The 70 female-only scholarships address a broad range of academic fields, including medicine, education, journalism, art, and other areas. The sole scholarship for male students, the Eric G. Rowe Scholarship Fund, is reserved for “deserving farm boys” who plan to attend the university’s School of Agriculture (1).

On September 20, 2019 the SAVE Title IX Equity Project sent a letter to Chancellor Alexander Cartwright listing the discriminatory scholarships and requesting a substantive response. The University never replied. On January 28, 2020, the Title IX Equity Project filed a formal complaint with the federal Office for Civil Rights, alleging a willful breach of federal non-discrimination requirements. The decision whether to open a formal federal investigation is pending.

Such disparities not only violate federal law, they offend basic notions of fairness. At the University of Missouri – Columbia, female students outnumber males, 11,789 to 10,695 (2). Nationwide, 56% of undergraduate students are female, and 44% are male (3).

The listing of all 85 universities is available online (4). The federal Office for Civil Rights is currently investigating over 80 sex-discrimination complaints that were filed by parties alleging discrimination against male students (5).

University of Michigan-Flint professor Mark Perry has commented ironically, “universities would never tolerate any special preferences for men or discrimination against women, but on the other hand, they not only tolerate discrimination against men and special preferences for women, but they actively promote, fund and endorse illegal discrimination…The illegal discriminatory programs are not being corrected internally despite huge staffs of diversity officers.” (6)

Citations:

Scholarships Title IX Equity Project

Colleges and Universities are Failing to Meet Their Title IX Obligations to Male Students

Post author By saveadmin
Post date August 19, 2019

Contact: Rebecca Stewart

Telephone: 513-479-3335

Email: info@saveservices.org

Colleges and Universities are Failing to Meet Their Title IX Obligations to Male Students

WASHINGTON / August 20, 2019 – A review of scholarships at over 200 colleges and universities in 36 states reveals widespread discriminatory practices in the provision of sex-specific scholarships for male students. The analysis reveals 57% of institutions offer scholarships that facially violate provisions of Title IX that ban sex-based discrimination. Among the other schools, 27% were classified as Borderline, and only 16% were assessed as Compliant with Title IX requirements (1).

For example, Kent State University in Ohio offers two scholarships for male students, compared to 11 scholarships reserved for females. In Academic Year 2018-19, each male undergraduate student was awarded an average scholarship of $1,567, compared to an average scholarship of $2,208 to each female student, based on information supplied by the university to the SAVE Title IX Equity Project (2).

This $641 disparity represents a violation of the Title IX regulation, which requires that “the overall effect of the award of such sex-restricted scholarships, fellowships, and other forms of financial assistance does not discriminate on the basis of sex.” (34 CFR 106.37(b)(1))

Discriminatory sex-specific scholarships are only one example of widespread Title IX violations at institutions of higher learning. Many institutions offer programs that limit participation to female students, such as engineering and information technology programs.

Currently, the federal Office for Civil Rights is investigating complaints of such discriminatory programs at the following colleges and universities: Florida Institute of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Boston College, Brown University, University of Rhode Island, Yale University, Indiana University, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Grand Valley State University, Michigan State University, Saginaw Valley State University, University of Michigan, Wayne State University, Duke University, Princeton University, Rutgers University, Rochester Institute of Technology, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, and University of Southern California (3).

Last week the Office for Civil Rights reached an agreement with Clemson University in South Carolina to end sex-discriminatory practices for three programs: Project WISE [Women In Science and Engineering] Summer Camp, WISE Choice, and STEM Connections (4).

In addition, hundreds of lawsuits have been filed by male students against colleges and universities alleging due process violations. To date, judges have ruled in favor of these students in 151 such cases (5).

As institutions of higher learning prepare for the new academic year, the Title IX Equity Project urges campus administrators to carefully review policies, procedures, and practices to assure male students are being treated equitably.

Citations:

http://www.saveservices.org/equity/scholarships/
Email dated August 15, 2019 from Kent State University Associate Counsel.
http://www.saveservices.org/ocr-investigations/
http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/OCR-LETTER-CLEMSON-U-8.14.2019.pdf
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CsFhy86oxh26SgTkTq9GV_BBrv5NAA5z9cv178Fjk3o/edit#gid=0