But even with its heightened awareness of Title IX, Brown has allowed a counseling program limited to women.

The Women Peer Counseling program places upperclass women in first-year dorms to advise first-year students about women's issues ranging from sexual assault to eating disorders.

Margaret Klawunn, director of the Sarah Doyle Women's Center at Brown, says the Women Peer Counseling program may expand its ranks to include male counselors. But she insists such a move would represent a shift in philosophy for the program, not a legal consideration.

"It's moving more toward being a gender issues [program]," she says, explaining that many program participants would like to see the counseling embrace a wider range of issues.

"One of the things that's interesting about the legislation is that it's so broad," Klawunn says. "The idea was to create equity for women and men. I think there are cases where it's been taken advantage of in ways that still don't make sense, because of power dynamics in our society."

Cautiously Complying

Harvard administrators respond cautiously to news of single-sex programs that continue to exist at other institutions.

"I'm not familiar with those programs, but at Harvard we place great importance on compliance with the non-discrimination laws, including Title IX," says Robert B. Donin, the University's deputy general counsel. "If we didn't comply with Title IX, we could face a lawsuit or lose our federal funding."