College progressives these days are obsessed with gender parity: they say there aren’t enough women seeking STEM degrees, for example.

But they do say they want “parity.” So it must be progressive to criticize a lack of gender parity when men are underrepresented, right?

A Dartmouth op-ed recently criticized the school’s hiring of primarily women to fill roles on the student life executive board at the school. Student Ryan Spencer made a bid to be part of the board, a bid that ultimately failed. Of the 19 current members, only four are male. In other words, 80 percent of those hired for the board are female.

Spencer took to the pages of The Dartmouth to take issue with the disparity. He stated his disbelief in claims that merit was the deciding factor, not gender.

Spencer has a valid point, of course. If the numbers were flipped, wouldn’t feminists be outraged? Wouldn’t people be demanding a change? Of course they would. They’d launch protests over the exclusion of so many women — and maybe with good cause.

However, there are no protests planned in Spencer’s defense. Instead, the outrage is all directed at him.

At the Washington Free Beacon, writer Rachel Frommer notes: “At least 37 letters, most titled ‘In Solidarity,’ have been distributed by student groups since The Dartmouth published an opinion piece Friday by Ryan Spector, who took issue with nearly 80 percent of the 19-person directorate of the Dartmouth Outing Club’s First-Year Trips being female this year.”

Frommer writes that some have described Spencer as a “white supremacist.” Some have claimed his article “endangered” people.

Another student publication claimed Spencer “had committed an act of violence.”

Clearly, they don’t teach the definition of words like “violence” at Dartmouth.

The truth is, Spencer pointed out something that would never be allowed to stand if the numbers were reversed, and we all know it. However, with Leftists, if it weren’t for double standards, they’d have no standards at all. Spencer may be upset at his failure to secure a seat on the board, but everyone’s attitude towards him proved his point.

For Leftists, all that matters is advancing the cause. They don’t realize the result lowers the value of a degree.