Follies in Affirmative Action

USC under federal investigation for anti-male discrimination

The U.S. Department of Education is officially investigating allegations that the University of Southern California excludes male students from certain educational opportunities.

The Title IX investigation was launched in response to complaints submitted by a USC professor whose efforts have already instigated a similar investigation into Yale University.

"There is no longer any valid reason to maintain affirmative action for women."

According a January 28 letter obtained by Campus Reform, the department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has agreed to investigate four USC initiatives, including the school’s Smart Women’s Securities chapter and the Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) chapter.

Both of these programs allegedly discriminate “by excluding male students from participation and providing opportunities for female students only,” according to the OCR letter, which notes that many female-only scholarships at USC are also under investigation.

The OCR agreed to launch an investigation after Kursat Christoff Pekgoz, a lecturer and Provost’s Fellow at USC, filed a Title IX complaint against the institution in October 2017. Though the OCR initially dismissed his complaint, Pekgoz filed an appeal, and the dismissal was overturned just two weeks after his January 18 interview with an OCR official.

OCR’s agreement to consider an appeal is nearly unprecedented, Pekgoz told Campus Reform.

Not a man in the lot!

“The attorney who initially dismissed it cited a Dear Colleague Letter from 2016 which apparently allowed sex-selective scholarships ‘for the underrepresented sex,’” Pekgoz explained, saying he won the appeal by pointing out that—unlike during the 1970s when Title was put into law—women are no longer underrepresented in higher education.

Men are now a slight minority at USC, constituting only 48 percent of the student body. Though data on the most recent batch of graduates has not yet been calculated, men were also in the minority of USC graduates in the 2016-2017 academic year, a school spokesman confirmed.

No longer a majority in the schools (most schools in fact), men can no longer be discriminated against at will. If nothing else will get rid of affirmative action plans, this will.

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup" and links. Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Eponymous Shorts" and "FMJRA 2.0: Before They Make Me Run" up and at 'em at The Other McCain.