Federal complaint filed against MIT over graduate programs

The Equal Protection Project filed a federal complaint this week asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for alleged sex-based discrimination against male students.

The complaint, submitted to the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, challenges two graduate programs titled “Graduate Womxn in Physics” and “Graduate Womxn in Biology” programs, arguing they unlawfully exclude students who identify as male in violation of Title IX.

“The Womxn Programs discriminate on the basis of sex because eligibility is conditioned on whether an individual is male or female, notwithstanding the use of gender-identity terminology,” the complaint states.

The programs provide career development opportunities, mentoring and travel funding based on sex rather than individual merit, Robert Fox, Attorney for Equal Protection Project, said in an email to The Center Square.

The complaint alleges that male students are excluded unless they identify as transgender or nonbinary, creating different eligibility standards based on sex.

“The very name ‘womxn’ signals that the program is designed for one sex, conveying to male students that they are not the intended participants,” Fox said.

MIT did not respond to a request for comment.

The term “womxn” is a variation of “women” that emerged from second-wave feminism and is often used to emphasize inclusivity while symbolically removing the word “man.”

William Jacobson, president and founder of the Equal Protection Project, wrote to The Center Square in an email that the programs treat students differently based on sex.

“Both ‘womxn’ programs discriminate against males,” Jacobson said. “Females automatically are included, but males are included only if they demonstrate additional factors, such as being ‘transgender’ or nonbinary. Female students who identify as female are included, but male students who identify as male are not included. Such differing eligibility standards based on whether one is female or male constitute sex-based discrimination in clear violation of Title IX.”

Jacobson also said the programs conflict with MIT’s own policies.

“MIT’s own nondiscrimination rules prohibit discrimination based on sex,” Jacobson said. “We are seeking to hold MIT to its own set of rules and to the promise of nondiscrimination it made to students.”