Sexist Professor's Viral Speech Prompts Student To Raise Over $70K For Women's Scholarship

A college student at Boise State University (BSU) is proudly leaving behind a legacy for the women on her campus who enter the fields of STEM, Medicine and Law. Ally Orr, 22, raised over $70,000 for a women's scholarship at BSU after listening to a sexist speech given by a male professor at the university.

Scott Yenor, a professor of political philosophy, gave the speech in November 2021 where he said women should not be employed in engineering, medicine and law. Instead of being deterred by the man’s comments, Ally took it in her stride and raise money for women who wanted to pursue higher education in those fields.

“I never want a girl to look online and say, 'Oh look, a professor who teaches in higher education says I should stay out of STEM, medicine and law," Ally said, while speaking to Good Morning America. "They should see the scholarship and see that 500-plus donors said, 'No, I will fund you if you want to go into these areas of study.'"

Yenor, who continues to be employed at the university, had said in his speech: “Our feminist culture leads us to want less male achievement. Their excellence, after all, creates inequities. That’s a shame. That denial of reality has to stop. Every effort must be made not to recruit women into engineering, but rather to recruit and demand more of men to become engineers. Ditto for [medical] school and the law and every trade. Efforts should be redoubled to encourage more men to enter the medical field, space exploration, mining endeavors and every other high-end and even low-end profession.”

Ally criticized the professor’s remarks but knew that was not enough. So she created a fundraiser on GoFundMe and urged people to donate money for the scholarship. After sending over 600 emails to professors and faculty members, her fundraiser went viral and spread to communities outside of her campus.

At the time of writing, Ally's campaign has raised over $74,000 for the Women in STEM, Medicine and Law Scholarship at Boise State University and it will start providing funds to one female student each academic year starting this fall.

As for Yenor, it is unclear whether he faced disciplinary action for his comments, as reported by The Hill's Changing America. He had posted a follow-up video in December 2021 on Twitter to defend himself after the outrage his speech had caused.

Undeterred by the backlash to his questionable speech, the BSU professor reiterated his sexist view on feminism.

Meanwhile, BSU spokesperson Mike Sharp did not comment on Yenor’s statements but said, "No single faculty member defines what Boise State — or any public university — endorses or stands for."

Ally began her final semester at the university Monday and will leave in a few months knowing that her scholarship will benefit several women even after she graduates.

"I think the most hurtful thing that [Yenor] said is to recruit more men into these areas of study and not women," said Ally. "This scholarship says, 'No, no, no. We have money for you. You choose to be here and also, come join us. We want you here.'"