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.