Wayne State University's choice to host summer programs for Black Girls Code (BGC), an organization dedicated to teaching girls of color about coding and tech, has drawn the ire of a professor claiming discrimination.
Mark Perry, a University of Michigan-Flint’s School of Management professor, claimed the university violated federal Title IX by allowing the org to hold sessions on its ground. According to MLive, the allegation of discrimination stemmed from a coding camp done by the org, which took place on the campus last summer.
“I was saying that program should not be hosted at Wayne State,” Perry said in a statement. “That program is discriminatory based on race and sex.”
The program is not part of Wayne State, but the school takes federal funds which could violate Title IX, Perry claimed.
He has also taken his grievances to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. Because he feels Black Girls Code is an openly discriminatory group that does not allow boys to partake.
Wayne State is not the only university to host the camp. Perry has filed 35 complaints which target other universities.
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“I’m challenging the discriminatory, girls-only summer STEM camps at 35 universities across the country,” he said. “After spending a quarter of a century in higher education – there’s systematic and open gender discrimination. I’ve just taken this on as a mission to change the gender discrimination that takes place across the country.”
Wayne State University believes the complaints against them and the program are unfounded. Spokesman Matt Lockwood said that there are other programs similar to BGC hosted by the university. BGC allows all girls of different races to participate.
“Black Girls Code is a voluntary youth service organization and a 501(c) tax-exempt organization, and Wayne State hosts co-educational programs in coding and other STEM fields similar to BGC for both boys and girls,” Lockwood said in a statement. "Therefore, the university is not in violation of Title IX or any other statute or law prohibiting discrimination based on sex. In addition, Black Girls Code allows girls from all racial backgrounds to participate in its programs.”
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