Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan

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Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan
U.S. LEXIS 157; 50 U.S.L.W. 5068; 29 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH ) ¶ 32,868
Case history
Prior	Cert. to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Holding
The exclusion of men from enrollment in Mississippi University for Women's nursing school violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William J. Brennan Jr. · Byron White Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun Lewis F. Powell Jr. · William Rehnquist John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor
Case opinions
Majority	O'Connor, joined by Brennan, White, Marshall, Stevens
Dissent	Burger
Dissent	Blackmun
Dissent	Powell, joined by Rehnquist
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. XIV

Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan, 458 U.S. 718 (1982), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, decided 5–4, which ruled that the single-sex admissions policy of the Mississippi University for Women violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.^[1][2][3]

Background of the case

The Mississippi University for Women was established in 1884 in

In 1979, Joe Hogan, a

Case history

The District Court ruled in favor of the Mississippi University for Women, concluding that maintenance of MUW as a single-sex school bears a rational relationship to the State's legitimate interest "in providing the greatest practical range of educational opportunities for its female student population." The court held that the admissions policy was not arbitrary: providing single-sex schools is consistent with a respected, though by no means universally accepted, educational theory that single-sex education affords unique benefits to students. Stating that the case presented no issue of fact, the court informed Hogan that it would enter summary judgment dismissing his claim unless he tendered a factual issue. When Hogan offered no further evidence, the District Court entered summary judgment in favor of the State.^[5]

The

The Supreme Court's ruling did not require that the entire university become coeducational; however, the Board of Trustees of Mississippi State Institutions of Higher Learning ordered the university to change its policies to allow the admission of qualified males into all university programs.[6] By the 2020-2021 academic year, one in five students were men.^[7]

The Court's ruling also did not require the school to change the name of the school, and as a result the school remains "Mississippi University for Women". Suits have been filed against the university to change the name claiming that its name and mission discourage males from applying for admission. These suits were dismissed as groundless and had no effect on the name.

In 2002, the administration of the university considered changing the name^[8] and pursued efforts to do so despite opposition, particularly from alumnae.^[9] In her convocation speech on August 11, 2008, President Limbert announced a new proposal to remove "women" from the university's name which was abandoned.^[10]

See also

• Gender equality
• List of gender equality lawsuits
• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 458

References

External links

• Text of Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan, 458 U.S. 718 (1982) is available from: Cornell  CourtListener  Google Scholar  Justia  Library of Congress  Oyez (oral argument audio)