University of Chicago ups its “man” power

CHICAGO, Ill. — Male students on the University of Chicago campus seek to combat the gender struggle — from the opposite end of the spectrum.

Junior Steve Saltarelli formed the club Men in Power following enthusiastic support of a column he wrote for the student newspaper challenging the lack of advocacy groups for men.

The university has nine women’s advocacy groups on campus, but so far, this is the only one designed specifically for men.

“People are just excited about the idea that men can have a group as well,” Saltarelli told the Chicago Tribune.

The club aims to discuss career paths, mentor middle-school students and educate its members about the issue of reverse sexism, an idea drawn from recent statistics about men in the workplace.

The Chicago Tribune reported that professional men have suffered the harshest while the nation is steeped in recession; the unemployment rate is at 10 percent for males and 7.6 percent for females. Graduation rates also show a gender disparity, with 135 women earning college degrees for every 100 men.

Men in Power boasts 125 members, including several women. It has, however, drawn backlash from those who believe that such a club is misogynistic.

Chicago student Jessica Pan, president of the school’s Women in Business club, finds the club’s mission entirely unnecessary, telling the Chicago Tribune she wasn’t “sure [the campus] really need[s] another student organization that focuses on pre-professional development for men.”

Ali Feenstra, a third-year student and member of the campus group Feminist Majority, agreed.

“It’s like starting ‘white men in business,’” Feenstra said. “There’s not really any purpose.”

Harvard senior challenges graduation ban

BOSTON, Mass. — Last week, a Harvard student reported that she had been told she was barred from graduating and was forced to vacate due to living in the same dorm where a campus visitor was shot and killed May 18.

Senior Chanequa Campbell, who is black, believes the university singled her out because of her race.

“The honest answer to that is that I’m black, and I’m poor, and I’m from New York, and I walk a certain way, and I keep my clothes a certain way,” Campbell told The Boston Globe.

Campbell bears no connection to the crime save for the fact that she is friends with the suspect’s girlfriend.

The suspect, Jabrai Jordan Copney, who is not a Harvard student, accessed the Kirkland House dorm with an electronic key card given to him by a student. Campbell’s attorney, Jeffrey Karp, explained Campbell’s alibi to The Associated Press: She was at work and taking an exam when the shooting occurred and did not allow Copney into the building.

Though Campbell has not been formally expelled from the school, Harvard “made it clear that their position is intractable,” Karp said.

The case may ultimately reach a settlement in court. Regardless of the outcome, Karp expressed concern over its implications for Campbell’s future.

“This has besmirched her academic reputation,” he said.

Reach columnist Rachel Solomon at news@dailyuw.com.