Male activist claims groups for women are discriminatory

WASHINGTON — At home in Turkey, Kursat Pekgoz considered himself a feminist. In the world of American higher education, where he is now pursuing a doctorate in English literature, the 30-year-old activist says it is men who are being treated unfairly.

Arguing that campus resource groups for women and women’s studies programs amount to discrimination against men, Pekgoz has filed federal complaints against several universities with the backing of the National Coalition for Men, an American men’s rights organization.

The Education Department is taking the complaints seriously. Over the last year, its civil rights division has opened investigations into Yale, Princeton, the University of Southern California and Tulane University to determine whether their women’s programs violate Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination at schools that receive federal funding. The department also has received complaints against Georgetown, Northeastern and the University of Pennsylvania.

“Women are the majority,” said Pekgoz, a student at the University of Southern California. “So I really cannot see how this is not discrimination against men.” He studied English literature in Turkey and moved to the U.S. to pursue an advanced degree. “We can’t keep living in the past on these issues.”

While the number of women attending college has grown significantly in recent decades, women are still underrepresented in science and technology and in leadership positions in higher education.