Harvard: When religion trumps equality

Sharia has come to Harvard, said Andrew Sullivan in TheAtlantic.com. Since February, the nation’s premier university has been systematically barring males from one of its campus gyms for six hours a week. The reason? So that conservative Muslim women can work out without suffering the discomfort of having men see them in immodest workout clothes. In other words, Harvard’s enlightened leaders are saying that to satisfy one group’s needs, they can discriminate against another group. Administrators contend that they’re not discriminating against men, just “accommodating” the needs of religious Muslims, but this is absurd on its face. The university “would never do that kind of thing for any other religion.” If Muslim women must exercise while avoiding male eyes, they should do so at home. “This is the West, guys. Get over yourselves.”

Conservatives, naturally, are indignant, said Ana Veciana-Suarez in The Miami Herald. Pundits and bloggers on- and off-campus are assailing Harvard for “appeasement” of “radical Islam.” But let’s look at this controversy in the light of common sense. The gym in question is only one of Harvard’s many recreational facilities. Located on the edge of campus, it’s the least used. We’re talking just six off-peak hours a week; men are not truly suffering from any real “discrimination.” Granted, said Ruth Marcus in The Washington Post, it’s difficult to satisfy everyone when a minority’s rights conflict with those of the majority. But under the circumstances, “Harvard authorities managed to get this one right.”

No they didn’t, said Harvard undergraduate Sahil Mahtani in The New Republic. The current mess began when some Muslim women quietly inquired if some private gym time might be arranged. No demands were made. But the university’s administrators immediately fell all over themselves to set up women-only hours at the gym, lest they be accused of intolerance toward Muslims. The university’s overreaction has only served to create “a media frenzy that has put the Muslim community at Harvard in an unnecessarily bad position.” It’s one thing to offer kosher and halal food to observant Jews and Muslims, or to set up prayer rooms for Hindus and Muslims, as Harvard already does; it’s another to exclude people from eating that food or from praying in those rooms. That would be a violation of the university’s commitment to equality for all, and only create a backlash. So the next time Harvard administrators are tempted to do Muslim students a favor, this Muslim student has a request: Please don’t.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up