Two programs at Princeton University, including a self-defense course for women, are being probed by the federal government for alleged discrimination based on a complaint being filed.
On July 28, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened a Title IX investigation for “gender harassment,” according to the department’s website. Title IX is a federal law which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex at schools that receive federal funding.
No further information about the case was made available from the government.
A Department of Education spokesman said on Aug. 2 that the department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) “does not discuss the details of its investigations.”
The website Campus Reform, which was the first to report the story, said the programs were a self-defense course for women called Rape Aggression Defense and the Princeton chapter of Smart Women Securities, a club about investing.
The complaint was brought by an unidentified man, but it was not clear from the report if he was a student or university employee.
The Princeton Packet, which submitted a government records request for the complaint the man filed, was able to independently confirm those are the two programs being looked at.
“We are reviewing the two programs referenced in the OCR’s letter and appreciate the opportunity to respond in due course,” Princeton University spokesman Michael Hotchkiss said. “The university is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive learning environment on campus.”
The university’s Department of Public Safety, which provides the Rape Aggression Defense classes only to women, says on its website that the Rape Aggression Defense System “is dedicated to teaching women defensive concepts and techniques against various types of assault by utilizing easy, effective and proven self-defense tactics.”
The federal government has another pending Title IX investigation at Princeton with a case, under the category of sexual violence, that opened on Aug. 11, 2016.
Princeton University is the second institution in the municipality that is being looked at by the Department of Education for Title IX issues. The Princeton Theological Seminary has an open investigation that began in April, also under the sexual violence category, the government reported.
A message left on Aug. 2 at the seminary’s communications office was not returned.
