RJ Wolcott

Lansing State Journal

EAST LANSING - A University of Michigan-Flint professor has filed a civil rights complaint against Michigan State University over its women's study lounge.

But the lounge, located on the first floor of the MSU Student Union, won’t be restricted when it reopens later this summer, according to MSU spokesman Jason Cody. The lounge is currently being converted into an all-purpose quiet study area, accessible to all students.

But that doesn’t mean MSU is off the hook, said Mark Perry, the University of Michigan-Flint economics professor who filed the complaint in July.

“I think MSU owes an apology to the thousands of men whose civil rights have been violated,” Perry said, noting that men were previously not allowed to use the public space.

Perry has written about gender issues, including wage gaps among men and women, on his blog and for news publications including the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.

The decision to allow men in the lounge was made after conversations took place several months ago about how to best use the space, Cody said. It was not related to the complaint, which MSU has not yet been notified of, he added

“The space has historically been used as a women’s study lounge, but the university decided (this is the) best use of space now,” he said.

The renovated space will also include a private lactation area. The MSU Union was in need of a place for women who are breastfeeding because the women’s resource center, which had a private area within its third-floor offices, has moved to a different building on campus.

Perry’s complaint was submitted electronically on July 7, said Vicki Levengood, communications director for the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. The complaint is still being evaluated by the department. No other civil rights complaints about the lounge have been filed in the past five years, she said.

The union was home to both men’s and women’s study lounges when it opened in 1925, though the men’s lounge has since been converted into a general study space.

Sitting in a nearby study area, MSU senior Kyra Benn said she thought it wasn’t a big deal to have one space restricted when there are hundreds of locations to study on campus.

“One room shouldn’t make a difference,” she said. While she hasn’t used it herself, the room has looked fairly busy when she’s visited the union during her time at MSU.

Contact RJ Wolcott at (517) 377-1026 or rwolcott@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @wolcottr.