April 9, 2026

Men will be barred from using parts of an on-campus gym at the University of Southern California under a new initiative to make women and non-binary gym-goers feel more comfortable while working out.

The Student Assembly for Gender Empowerment (SAGE) pushed for the new rules in partnership with the Lyon Center, a recreational facility controlled by the university.

SAGE describes itself as a “programming assembly and intersectional feminist organization under the student government, committed to uplifting all voices oppressed by the patriarchy.”

The University of Southern California is banning men from parts of its on-campus gym in a bid to make women and non-binary students feel more comfortable, a move already sparking a sharp clash over access and fairness. Under the new policy, men are barred from sections of the Lyon Center’s Robinson Room on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 to 11 a.m., after student activists pushed the change through with the university-run facility. Supporters say it’s about reducing discomfort in “men-dominated” workout spaces; critics will likely see a public college drawing a hard line on who gets to use the gym, and when.

Leave a Reply