To honor its inaugural Title IX month, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has launched an investigation into the University of Wyoming for allowing a male to be admitted to Kappa Kappa Gamma, a female sorority.
The controversy began in fall 2022, when Artemis Langford, a male who identifies as female, was allowed to join Kappa Kappa Gamma, prompting outrage. A series of court battles has yet to fully settle the dispute.
The Office for Civil Rights announced the University of Wyoming probe will look into the school “for allegedly allowing males to join and live in female-only intimate and communal spaces.”
“A school receiving federal funding that supports, sponsors, or promotes a sorority or fraternity, must meet its obligations under Title IX to protect its students from sex-based harassment and sexual assault, regardless of the sorority or fraternity’s policy,” the department stated.
“A sorority that admits male students is no longer a sorority by definition and thus loses the Title IX statutory exemption for a sorority’s single-sex membership practices.”
In a statement to The College Fix, the university stated it “believes it has been and is in compliance with Title IX but intends to fully cooperate with the investigation and will work with the Office for Civil Rights to come into compliance if needed.”
Some sorority sisters filed a lawsuit, Westenbroek v. Kappa Kappa Gamma, to have Langford removed from their chapter, but a judge threw out the case. The sorority sisters appealed.
Last year, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals removed itself from the case on the grounds that “it lacked appellate jurisdiction to hear the case, thus avoiding the question of whether Kappa Kappa Gamma’s directors breached their fiduciary duties in forcing the Wyoming chapter to initiate a male,” according to Independent Women’s Forum.
“We disagree the court lacked appellate jurisdiction,” stated May Mailman, lead counsel and Independent Women’s Law Center director, in a news release. “Women deserve the camaraderie and safety of sororities, but unfortunately, it also appears they first need courts brave enough to say so.”
Independent Women’s Forum praised news of the probe this month.
“All-female sororities are intended to be safe spaces for women. Women deserve single-sex spaces where their privacy and safety are respected,” Beth Parlato, senior legal advisor for Independent Women’s Law Center, told The College Fix.
The forum had previously pointed out Langford is “a 6-foot-2-inch, 260-pound transgender student who allegedly ogled at girls in the Kappa house, asked inappropriate questions about their sex, and told the girls he was still sexually interested in women.”
Parlato told The Fix “this investigation is a necessary step to ensure that federal policies and laws meant to protect women are being enforced.”
She said the case has gone back to the district court, where it is still pending. She said the sorority sisters will be filing an amended complaint in the district court.
According to Independent Women’s Forum, “these legal actions have garnered widespread support from feminist organizations and over 450 Kappa Kappa Gamma alumnae.”
Women from sororities across the country have sent over 2,800 letters to the executive leaders of the National Panhellenic Conference, and to each national sorority, showing support “to keep sororities female.”
The University of Wyoming told The Fix in a statement that the university’s position has been that the school does not “control decisions about sorority and fraternity memberships.”
It cites a regulation that states the university “does not control or accept responsibility for the activities nor endorse the programs of student organizations.” This includes sororities and fraternities.
“The Office for Civil Rights’ initiation of an investigation is not itself evidence of a violation of federal civil rights laws and regulations,” the statement reads.
Parlato said the hoped for outcome of the investigation is that the University of Wyoming “will address and remedy any and all instances of sex discrimination on campus, including allowing a male into an all-female sorority house, private sleeping quarters and private areas.”
She said that, ideally, the university adopts “a policy on campus that protects females in spaces where they have a legal right and an expectation of privacy.”
The College Fix reached out to Kappa Kappa Gamma for comment, but received no response.
MORE: Sorority sisters file lawsuit to remove male member
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Education Secretary Linda McMahon testifies before Congress / YouTube screenshot
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