Student files Title IX complaint against LA Tech

A Louisiana Tech University student has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education over a student fee.

The fee, the Association of Women Students fee, is a 50-cent fee on all full-time female students to fund the AWS chapter.

“I have filed a complaint ... under Title IX,” Nick Smith said. “We’re just trying to get the fee removed.”

Title IX is a set of federal laws that prevent federally funded educational institutions from discriminating on the basis of sex.

Smith first looked into the fee when writing a story for a student-operated magazine at Tech.

“One of the administrators basically said in the story I wrote that this is a fee that we already have. Good luck trying to get rid of it,” he said. “The reason why I filed a complaint is because a student affairs dean from another university contacted me when I initially wrote the story in the Tech magazine. He encouraged me to pursue a complaint because he felt it was in violation of Title IX.”

Dave Guerin, executive director of university communications, said, “Louisiana Tech has no knowledge of a complaint having been filed regarding our Associated Women Students fee and thus cannot comment further.”

Smith said he has a phone conference scheduled with an attorney from the Department of Education Thursday that is looking into the complaint.

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