Published by "Transitions"
The Journal of Men's Perspectives
National Coalition of Free Men
PO Box 129, Manhasset, NY 11030
May/June 1991
In April 1991 the National Coalition of Free Men (NCFM) exposed sex discrimination against men at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in Baltimore, Maryland. On Tuesday, 2/19/91, Jon Ryan, chairman of the NCFM Committee on Gender Bias in the Courts, read an article in a Baltimore newspaper about the annual Spring Fair at Johns Hopkins University. In 1991, it was to be held April 19-21. The article stated that the Spring Fair attracts about 100,000 people. Additionally, the JHU Women's Center was going to have a space at the Fair. Thinking that such an event would be a good place to make people aware of men's issues and provide information for the male attendees, Jon called the Spring Fair office to find out how much spaces cost and the deadline for application. Jon talked with one of the two female co-chairs for the Non-Profit Committee, Racquel Silverberg. Racquel asked the name of the organization and its purpose. Jon explained what NCFM did on behalf of men. Racquel then stated that the last date for filing an application was the 19th (that day). Jon asked how he could apply for a space. Racquel said that she could take the information over the phone. Racquel said that notification about spaces from the Non-Profit Committee would be sent out in a couple of weeks. On Wednesday, 3/6/91, Jon received a letter from the Non-Profit Committee co-chairs stating that there were too many applicants for the "limited number of spaces" in the Non-Profit Section and a space for NCFM was denied.
On a hunch, Jon immediately called Jack Kammer, another NCFM member in Baltimore. Jack then called the Spring Fair office and asked if any spaces were available. He was told by a student staff member that "I can almost definitely tell you spaces are available in Non-Profit." Jack said that the name of his organization was the "Baltimore Men Against Rape and Sexual Assault" an organization designed to educate the public about sexism against women. This was, of course, a fictitious name for a fictitious organization.
On Saturday, 3/9/91, Jack received an application from Nini Sangrujee, the other female co-chair of the Non-Profit Committee. Jack filled out the application and sent it in. On 3/28/91 Jack received an acceptance letter from the Spring Fair Non-Profit Committee for a space for the fictitious organization Baltimore Men Against Rape and Sexual Assault (BMARSA). On 4/3/91 Jon wrote a letter to the co-chairs of the Spring Fair, Rich Quarlesand and Kelly Mansfield, detailing the circumstances of NCFM being denied a space and BMARSA being accepted. Jon stated that he still wanted a space at the Fair.
In his letter, Jon wrote "Is a form of thought control being exercised in acceptance of an organization that wants to raise awareness about women's issues and rejection of an organization that wants to raise awareness about men's issues.?" On 4/11/91 Jon received a letter from Rich Quarles and Kelly Mansfield. A space for NCFM was again denied. In their letter, they stated "We in no way feel that Nini or Racquel based their decision not to include the National Coalition of Free men in the Spring Fair on anything other than their desire to provide a quality Non-Profit area for the Spring Fair." The letter did not mention anything about the post-deadline acceptance of the fictitious organization, BMARSA. Apparently, an organization devoted to men's issues is not a "quality" organization at the Johns Hopkins University.
Jon filed a discrimination complaint with the Maryland Human Relations Commission. The complaint was accepted for investigation on the basis of "denial of public accommodations." The JHU (April 12th, school newspaper) and the BALTIMORE SUN (April 12th,) newspapers were contacted. Initially, Rich Quarles and Kelly Mansfield refused to comment on the discrimination against the NCFM, but later they talked with reporters. Both newspapers ran front-page stories and Jon was on two hour-long radio talk shows. Shortly after the Spring Fair co-chairs were interviewed by the newspaper reporters, an attorney from the JHU General Counsel called Jon and stated that NCFM had been granted space at the Spring Fair. Jon accepted.
The first day of the Spring Fair (April 19th), Channel 11 in Baltimore did a story on the discrimination against NCFM. Ultimately, the story made the Rush Limbaugh national talk show and articles appeared in FORTUNE Magazine (May 20th, page 155) and the weekly newspaper CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION. The NCFM table at the Spring Fair attracted a great deal of attention. With the exception of one very vile and nasty female, everyone who stopped by was very supportive of the NCFM being at the Spring Fair. Generally, comments from JHU students were that "this type of thing" goes on all the time, and everyone was glad that JHU had finally been exposed. The complaint with the Maryland Human Relations Commission is going forward and other action against JHU is being considered in light of other discriminatory conduct against men at JHU.