Colleges sometimes assume that Title IX only protects women, which can lead them to adopt policies that illegally discriminate against men. That occasionally leads to lawsuits against them, such as Doe v. Columbia University, where a federal appeals court ruled that a male student could sue for being suspended over accusations of sexual misconduct in a situation where an accused female student likely wouldn’t have been disciplined.
The College Fix reports on another example:
Male students are prohibited from applying for a new scholarship meant to help Viterbo University’s aspiring doctors.
“A $1.267 million gift from the estate of alumna Dr. Joan Gennrich has been used to create a scholarship for a female Viterbo University student who will attend medical school,” the Catholic university in La Crosse, Wisconsin announced recently.
“The Dr. Joan Gennrich ’60 Endowed Medical School Scholarship could provide up to $50,000 to recipients over the course of their senior year at Viterbo and four years of medical school,” the university announced. “The scholarship will be awarded to one qualified student each year beginning in the fall of 2024.”
Gennrich appears to have made the gift through her will or other directive, as the university quotes her saying she made the gift, “in appreciation of [the] excellent education I received at Viterbo University and to encourage female college students to pursue a medical degree and join a profession I loved and valued.” She is deceased.
The university did not respond to multiple inquiries on Monday and Tuesday about the legality of the program. Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 generally prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, though there are exceptions.
The College Fix emailed Josh Gates, the listed press contact, for comment on Monday. The Fix asked if a university attorney had reviewed the program for legal compliance. The Fix emailed again and left a voicemail on Tuesday morning for Gates, the assistant vice president of leadership gifts.
The Fix then called the communications office on Tuesday morning. A staffer directed The Fix to email assistant communications director Anthony Slaby for comment. He did not respond to the email.
A higher education expert with the Heritage Foundation said the university should be careful to follow Title IX – or even better, avoid establishing “discriminatory” programs altogether.
The scholarship would have to be used as part of a “pool and match scheme,” Adam Kissel told The Fix on a phone interview Tuesday. “Pool and match” means the university would have to fund an equal scholarship for male students, Kissel said.
Colleges sometimes assume that whites and males can’t be victims of discrimination, because supposedly only whites and males have power in our society. For example, UCLA’s Director of Race and Equity, Johnathan Perkins, has falsely claimed that “white people cannot be victims of racism,” and “only white people can impose racist harm” (as well as claiming that “every white person is racist to some degree.”).
But the courts have rejected these contentions, such as in striking down various college affirmative action policies. Courts have ruled that racial harassment is illegal even when it is committed by blacks against whites, in cases such as Huckabay v. Moore (1998) and Bowen v. Missouri Department of Social Services (2002).
The federal courts have sentenced non-whites to prison for committing violent racial harms — hate crimes — against whites. Those decisions make plain that it is not “only white people” who “can impose racist harm,” as Perkins claims.
Officials sometimes assume that whites or males are racist or sexist or predatory by nature. Colleges may view that position as “antiracist,” but when they assume that whites or males are prone to oppressive behavior, that can lead to civil rights liability. For example, a federal appeals court allowed a man to sue for sex discrimination when he was fired for sexual misconduct the man said he was innocent of, where he was fired by an official who defended his decision by explaining, “I really don’t have any choice. Michelle [Brant] knows a lot of attorneys; I’m afraid she’ll sue me. And besides you probably did what she said you did because you’re male and nobody would believe you anyway.” Similarly, a judge ruled that “baseless accusations of racism” made against white employees because they are white can constitute racial harassment that contributes to a racially hostile work environment in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. (See Underwood v. Northport Health Services (1989)).
