MIT Faces Federal Lawsuit Over Gender-Specific Student Organizations
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is now at the center of a federal civil rights lawsuit filed on Monday, targeting two student groups designed for “Graduate Womxn.”
These university-backed organizations, Graduate Womxn in Physics and Graduate Womxn in Biology, claim that MIT is in violation of Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded educational institutions.
The complaint states, “Womxn programs discriminate on the basis of gender, as eligibility is conditioned on whether the individual is male or female, despite the use of gender identity terminology.” The details have been submitted to the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.
“According to the program’s definition, biological women can participate, but biological men are excluded unless they redefine their gender,” it argues.
MIT has not yet responded to inquiries for comment.
The term “womxn” is a feminist spelling from the second wave of feminism, aiming to remove “male” from the term to symbolize liberation from the oppression posed by the opposite sex.
This term is somewhat controversial in certain circles, deemed “trans-exclusive” by some critics. However, within these MIT groups, “womxn” is adopted as an “inclusive term” meant to encompass transgender and non-binary individuals, in addition to biological women.
William Jacobson, the president of the Equal Protection Project, expressed concern that the issue may extend beyond these two organizations, advocating for an investigation by the Department of Justice to explore possibly hidden programs.
The lawsuit references the promotional material from the respective groups. For instance, “Graduate Physics Womxn” states it welcomes “transgender women, cisgender women, non-binary people, and gender-diverse physics graduate students.”
In a similar vein, Graduate Womxn in Biology markets its events as “all-inclusive,” claiming participants do not necessarily need to be graduate students or identify as a Womxn to join.
Yet, Jacobson contends that such statements don’t absolve the organizations of discrimination. “When it’s race-based, you can’t just add a line that claims it’s open to everyone and expect to escape Title IX or Title VI liability,” he points out, referring to this as “signaling.”
The complaint references existing case law that asserts if an organization indicates that its services are restricted to a specific group, it renders others ineligible.
These groups provide various advantages to members, including networking opportunities and, for example, grants of $1,150 for travel to an international conference, and $800 for national or Canadian events.
Jacobson’s organization has previously taken legal action against MIT in relation to programs aimed at women of color. “We keep going back,” he remarked on the continued disputes with the Cambridge, Massachusetts, institution.
