Case Particulars

Tribunal

Department of Justice

Date Filed

December 29, 2025

Docket No.

N/A

Case Status

Case Filed

Case Overview

On December 29, 2025, the Equal Protection Project (EPP) filed a Civil Rights Complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division against Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) “regarding two of its officially sponsored student organizations and programs for “womxn” — Graduate Womxn in Physics (“GWIP”) and Graduate Womxn in Biology (“gwiBio”)(collectively the “Womxn Programs”), for sex-based discrimination in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”) and its implementing regulations.”

EPP’s Complaint continues:

The “womxn” programs challenged in this complaint are part of and promoted by MIT departments and offer extremely valuable benefits including, but not limited to, career development and mentoring, and travel funding.

The Complaint uses MIT’s own website to demonstrate the discriminatory nature of the program.

Next, the Complaint explains why the challenged scholarships violate federal law:

Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education. The statute provides: “[n]o person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” 20 U.S.C. § 1681(a). Accordingly, a school like MIT receiving federal funding,10 including from the Department of Justice,11 may not administer programs, scholarships, fellowships, or other educational opportunities that impose preferences or restrictions based on sex, except in limited exceptions that are not applicable here. See 34 C.F.R. § 106.37(a).

 

It makes no difference that MIT attempts to cover its tracks by inserting that events for gwiBio are open to all. In its July 2025 guidance, the Department of Justice made clear that recipients of federal funds may not engage in discrimination based on protected characteristics while attempting to insulate such conduct through facially neutral claims that a program is “open to all.” DOJ explained that programs whose structure, eligibility criteria, or implementation segregate or exclude individuals based on protected traits remain unlawful notwithstanding inclusive labels…

 

The Womxn programs also “signal” sex-based preferences. As the Second Circuit recognized in Ragin v. New York Times Co., 923 F.2d 995, 999–1000 (2d Cir. 1991), even subtle messaging can convey discriminatory preferences: “Ordinary readers may reasonably infer a racial message from advertisements that are more subtle than the hypothetical swastika or burning cross, and we read the word ‘preference’ to describe any ad that would discourage an ordinary reader of a particular race from answering it.” This signaling is actionable because the law looks to how an ordinary reader or applicant would perceive the program. See United States v. Hunter, 459 F.2d 205, 215–16 (4th Cir. 1972) (advertisements judged by effect on the ordinary reader, regardless of intent).

Finally, the Complaint then requests that DOJ take action:

The discrimination outlined above is presumptively illegal because it imposes sex-based discrimination on educational opportunities at an institution funded with federal dollars, including from the Department of Justice. Such restrictions directly violate Title IX by denying students the chance to compete on equal terms without individualized consideration or lawful justification.

 

The DOJ therefore has both the power and the obligation to investigate MIT’s role in creating, funding, and administering the Womxn programs, and to determine whether similar practices exist elsewhere at the university. Where violations are found, the DOJ may seek judicial enforcement. As the Supreme Court has made clear, “[t]he way to stop discrimination … is to stop discriminating.” Parents Involved in Cmty. Sch., 551 U.S. at 748.

 

Accordingly, we respectfully ask that the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division promptly open a formal investigation, seek such remedial relief as the law permits for the benefit of those who have been illegally excluded from MIT’s womxn programs based on discriminatory criteria, and ensure that all ongoing and future programming at MIT comport with federal civil rights laws.

The DOJ is evaluating EPP’s Complaint for further action.