Opinion: SJSU's dropping the ball when it comes to protecting women
In 2022, then-SJ State professor Dr. Elizabeth Weiss drew attention to the university's rule (now rescinded) against “menstruating personnel” handling anthropological remains. Last week, Weiss wrote in the Martin Center that SJSU's alleged silencing of volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose indicates a larger issue of “failing to protect and respect women.”
[SJSU having a transgender player on its women's volleyball team] was not received kindly by many involved. Brooke Slusser (a team co-captain), assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose, two former players, and eight players from teams that forfeited games against SJSU have all filed suit. Teams from Boise State University, Southern Utah University, Utah State University, the University of Wyoming, and the University of Nevada all opted not to play SJSU due to the Spartans’ unfair advantage.
Batie-Smoose filed a Title IX complaint in support of the team’s female athletes. SJSU suspended her indefinitely. This lack of fairness is evidenced by the fact that nets for male teams are set at 7 feet, 11 5/8 inches, whereas nets for female teams are set at 7 feet, 4 1/8 inches, a nearly 8-inch difference. Male athletes, with their extra strength, can seriously injure female athletes, particularly when playing by women’s rules. In 2022, North Carolina high schooler Payton McNabb was struck by a ball spiked by a trans athlete, ending her athletic career and causing traumatic brain injuries that she is still struggling to recover from today. In Massachusetts, a male high-school basketball player caused injuries to female players from a rival school before forcing a forfeit. …
In addition to her lawsuit, Batie-Smoose filed a Title IX complaint in support of the team’s female athletes. Instead of moving to investigate, however, SJSU suspended her indefinitely. She was also threatened with job-loss if she expressed concerns about practical issues, such as the fear of injury due to the biological male’s participation in training sessions. …
Multiple teammates, including Slusser, were reportedly warned that if they complained about the situation “things would go badly” for them. Thus, in addition to the Title IX suit, SJSU is also being sued for violating the First Amendment for trying to silence women who are against males in women’s sports.
This isn’t the first time SJSU has decided not to protect female student athletes. ... For over a decade, SJSU administrators enabled coach Scott Shaw to sexually abuse female students. This occurred under the watch of multiple SJSU presidents and resulted in one president, Mary Papazian, stepping down. The athletic director, Marie Tuite, allegedly knew about the allegations and was forced to resign in 2021.
Instead of doing a thorough investigation, Tuite and Papazian performed a sham one, letting Shaw back into the locker rooms where he continued his abuse. Whistleblower coach Sage Hopkins reported this neglect to the NCAA, but, for this, Tuite tried to fire him. After leaving SJSU in disgrace, Tuite unbelievably landed a job as the athletic director at Southern Utah University.
Eventually, the FBI stepped in. Shaw pleaded guilty, six student athletes testified at his sentencing, and he received a paltry two years of incarceration. SJSU paid $1.6 million to 13 female students whose complaints they had mishandled.
One may wonder what is wrong with SJSU. Why are they failing to protect and respect women? But this isn’t a case of just one misbehaving university. Progressive colleges around the U.S. are falling into the same pattern. For example, male athletes entering female sports and stealing opportunities from women has also occurred at Georgia Tech, which hosted the infamous 2022 NCAA women’s swimming championship featuring Lia Thomas. If allowed to take effect, the Biden administration’s changes to Title IX would strip away protections for female athletes and enable more males to join women’s teams.
The attacks against females at SJSU go beyond athletics. I, too, was targeted as a professor at SJSU. Upon changing its protocols for access to the curation facility in my field of anthropology, the university inserted sex-discriminatory regulations, stating that henceforth “menstruating personnel will not be permitted to handle” the human remains collection. (Note that politically correct university administrators couldn’t even bring themselves to say “women,” as that would exclude the possibility that males menstruate.) Such menstrual taboos are about casting females as filthy while they’re on their periods. Primitive beliefs that menstruating females need to be excluded from interacting with others should not, in the 21st century, be endorsed by a university dedicated to promoting education and progressive, inclusionary values.
Progressive colleges around the U.S. are falling into the same discriminatory pattern. This offensive menstrual taboo was removed after my lawyers notified the university that I’d be filing a Title IX complaint. Yet, my victory notwithstanding, menstrual taboos are also found in hands-on field schools, such as the University of Washington’s. There, anthropologists collaborating with Native Americans prevented menstruating women from entering the kitchen, preparing food, or serving themselves.
Read the whole thing here.
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