Legal complaint fails to stop Catholic University's single-sex dorm plan

Washington D.C., Jul 20, 2011 / 01:11 am

Catholic University of America is going ahead with its plan for single-sex residence halls despite a complaint filed on July 14 by Professor John Banzhaf, known for his lawsuits over fast food and women's bathrooms.

In a July 19 statement provided to CNA, the university said it “is moving ahead with its plans to house the incoming class of freshman in single-sex residence halls when they arrive on campus next month.”

The university said it received a copy of Banzhaf's complaint and will study it, but it remains “confident that the law does not require that men and women be housed together in residence halls.”

Banzhaf filed the complaint with the District of Columbia Office of Human Rights, saying the University is practicing illegal sex discrimination by eliminating mixed-gender dormitories.

According to his website, Banzhaf has been fighting what he calls sexual discrimination in Washington, D.C. for years. He has fought for women's admittance into male-only clubs, equal prices for men's and women's haircuts, and the removal of sexually-discriminatory ads in a newspaper.

The university's president, John Garvey, announced plans in June 2011 to return to single-sex dorms. The switch is part of an effort to strengthen the school's Catholic identity and combat students' destructive drinking and sexual behavior.