George Washington U. May Follow Harvard’s Example and Ban Single-Sex Clubs

George Washington U. May Follow Harvard’s Example and Ban Single-Sex Clubs

I see this as nothing more than a reduction in student freedom. Why not let students decide these things for themselves?

The Washington Examiner reports:

Another major university might end same-sex student groups — how far will it go?

Campus administrators at the George Washington University are considering amending a series of policies related to discrimination and governing of student organizations on campus that could soon make it impossible for single-sex student organizations to exist.

According to a new report in the GW Hatchet, campus officials are considering updates to the “protected characteristics” classes, which are a series of qualities among which individuals choose to identify, such as race, to further include “sex, gender and gender identity or expression.”

Based on the proposed guidelines, “failing or refusing to allow an individual to participate in a student organization or activity based on their protected characteristics” would be considered discrimination, which could subject the student organization to penalties on campus that could include fines or shutting down the club.

In their proposal, campus administrators have also drafted an expanded definition of what would be considered harassment on campus. According to the new definition, harassment would be considered “any unwelcome conduct based on a protected characteristic where such conduct creates a hostile environment.”

Further more, an expanded definition of hostile environment includes any behavior where “the conduct is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that it unreasonably interferes with, limits, or deprives an individual from participating in or benefiting from the university’s educational, employment, and/or campus-residential experience when viewed through both a subjective and objective standard.”

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