WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Independent Women praised the new Title IX investigation launched by the U.S. Department of Education into West Carolina University for allegations of failure to comply with Title IX, allowing for men to enter women’s intimate spaces on campus. The Trump administration restored the original intent of Title IX, the civil rights statute prohibiting sex discrimination in education, and ‘sex’ does not equal ‘gender identity.’ Western Carolina University (WCU) is also in direct conflict with President Trump’s Day One Executive Order, “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government,” which defines ‘woman’ and protects women’s rights to single-sex spaces, opportunities, and privacy.
In May 2024, Independent Women sports ambassador and WCU student Payton McNabb entered the women’s bathroom on WCU campus to find a male inside. Payton feared for her safety and began filming the interaction as the male washed his hands and exited the facility. McNabb expressed how uncomfortable she was. An internal Title IX case proceeding took place at WCU between McNabb and the male intruder. Gender ideology was struck down, and McNabb’s campus civil rights victory was a first big win for women’s rights to privacy and safety on college campuses.
Shortly thereafter, Independent Women Features, the grassroots storytelling and original journalism arm of Independent Women, received a tip from someone close to another WCU female student that left a WCU dorm due to a trans-identifying male roommate assignment that the female student didn’t want. Independent Women Features was told that the unplanned roommate situation created various problems as the semester progressed.
“Western Carolina University has perpetrated a policy that is not in full compliance with Title IX,” said Payton McNabb, Independent Women Ambassador and former Western Carolina University Student. “The violation has impacted not only me but many other female students at the university that deserve our rights to single-sex spaces. In addition to my experience discovering a male in the women’s restroom on campus, men who self-identify as trans are entering other women’s intimate spaces like restrooms, dorm rooms and locker rooms. Female college students will not sit idly by as men take over our spaces. I’m thankful to have an administration that will stand up for us.”
Beth Parlato, Senior Legal Advisor for Independent Women, said: “President Trump’s Executive Order mandates that educational institutions receiving federal funds must prohibit men from participating in female sports and accessing female-only private spaces. Western Carolina University believes they are above the law, and the Department of Education is right to investigate and hold them accountable. The safety, fairness, dignity, and privacy of all females is protected under Title IX, and the investigation into WCU is a necessary step to enforce federal law and eliminate WCU’s ideological overreach.”