DEPTof EDUC. Investigates USC for Denying Resources to Males-that Only Females Get
The U.S. Department of Education is officially investigating allegations that the University of Southern California excludes male students from certain educational opportunities. 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. Men are now a slight minority at USC, constituting only 48 percent of the student body. Women have also outpaced men in earning BAs since the 1981-1982 academic year and since then, the gender-gap has grown. By 2018 there is projected to be a 25 percent “gender degree gap” favoring women. USC Provost Fellow Kursat Pekgoz says that “there is no longer any valid reason to maintain affirmative action for women” considering their now-majority status. He also expressed disapproval with the lack of resources colleges provide for student fathers, citing for example how “the USC WISE program offers resources to pregnant women and women with children, [but offers] no equivalent resource for fathers.”
campusreform.org By Toni Airaksinen
