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Where do we go from here?Title IX transformed women's athletics. But inequalities still exist -- and a recent lawsuit and a controversial political appointment pose threats.By Dave Benson of The News-Sentinel
Title IX requires gender equity at schools that receive federal dollars and is most often associated with assuring gender equity in high school and college athletics. Today powerful forces want Title IX diluted. Coaches of wrestling, men's gymnastics and men's track -- programs that have faced deep cuts in recent years -- banded together in a lawsuit against the Department of Education and its Office for Civil Rights, which enforces Title IX. They alleged Title IX discriminates against male athletes and caused their programs to be cut. A powerful conservative women's organization jumped on that bandwagon, alleging that women actually don't want to participate in sports in numbers proportionate to their growing enrollments in colleges, as required by Title IX. It was believed that the current Bush administration was one of the forces that wanted to dilute Title IX. But the administration argued last month that the case should be thrown out. Still, the plaintiffs -- the National Wrestling Coaches Association, Bucknell University's wrestling program, Marquette University's wrestling club, the College Gymnastics Association and the United States Track Coaches Association -- are not giving up the battle to weaken Title IX. The plaintiffs filed an opposition to the motion to dismiss the suit and also asked for a summary judgment. Meanwhile, some people are not convinced that the Bush administration is truly committed to protecting Title IX, despite its stance on the recent lawsuit. "While we are pleased that the lawsuit has been dismissed, we are extremely disappointed in the lack of commitment by the administration to fully support Title IX regulations," Julie Foudy, president of the Women's Sports Foundation, said in a statement. "The government simply told the Wrestling Coaches Association to sue the colleges and universities that discontinue its sport. The administration is not sending a clear message that Title IX is valid and legal and women are entitled to full and equal rights to participate in federally funded education programs and activities. We believe that the Wrestling Coaches Association legal action has no merit whether it files against the government or institutions of higher education." * * * Trouble at the top? Another cause for concern is President Bush's appointment of conservative Gerald Reynolds as assistant secretary of the Department of Education. If his appointment is confirmed by Congress, Reynolds would head the Office for Civil Rights, which enforces Title IX. Reynolds was former president of the Center for Black Leadership, a pro-business organization opposed to quotas. Some think Reynolds' appointment and the Bush administration's ties to the Independent Women's Forum represent a potential death blow to Title IX. Some of the Women's Forum members include Bush's Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao; Diana Furchgott-Roth, the head of the White House's Council on Economics; Wendy Lee Gramm, the wife of Texas Senator Phil Gramm, and Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney. The News-Sentinel tried unsuccessfully to reach Reynolds by telephone and e-mail. In a speech to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Feb. 26, however, Reynolds gave no hint he plans to dismantle Title IX. "One of the most significant, and in my mind successful, civil rights laws has been Title IX, which prohibits schools that receive federal funds from discriminating on the basis of sex. "Before Title IX, schools and universities could, and did, treat men better than women. Many high schools routinely shepherded girls into courses, such as home economics and typing, while boys were prepared for college and professional schools. This is inherently unfair. A system that distributes benefits and burdens on the basis of an individual's sex is a system that curtails freedom of choice," Reynolds said. * * * Allies against Title IX The Independent Women's Forum says Title IX punishes boys and men to create opportunities for girls and women. "They (the Office for Civil Rights) are enforcing equal outcomes, which was not the intent of the original ruling, " said Christine Stolba, a senior fellow at the Independent Women's Forum. "The regulation needs to be revisited. Title IX embraced equal opportunity for men and women. There was a need then. You had the men's team taking a plane and the women's team taking a bus. Unfortunately, it's run amok. "One thing we'd like to see is wider use of women's student surveys. If only 20 percent of female students are interested in playing sports, why should 50 percent of the school's athletes be women?" Whether some men's athletic programs have been eliminated because of Title IX or because they don't make money is debated frequently. There is no disputing, however, that: * Schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association have dropped 105 wrestling programs between 1981 and 2000. * Sixty-nine percent of men's gymnastics programs were eliminated over the same period. * Men's NCAA swimming and diving teams have dropped from 400 teams in 1995-96 to 368 in 1999-00. Coaches of these programs say they support Title IX. What they oppose is the interpretation of the law. "I'm afraid what we've done is use bad terminology," Manchester College wrestling coach and athletic director Tom Jarman said. "People say, 'Title IX is bad for men's sports.' It's not. But what is bad for men's sports is the interpretation of the law. . ." The Bush administration's position has not diminished the resolve of Mike Moyer, director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association. "We don't believe in any way that it dampens the strength of our position," he said. "We're going to remain very confident that we're going to restore Title IX to its original intent." The National Wrestling Coaches Association is also trying to combat the elimination of men's athletic programs by organizing wrestling programs with Olympic sports. "Our long-term goal is to form a college sports council comprised of the traditional Olympic sports," Moyer said. "In talking to other sports groups, they are starting to see the unintended consequences of this well-intentioned law. It's clearly affecting everybody. We'd like to organize these sports, but consensus building takes time." * * * Inequality still exists Even those who feel they've been harmed by Title IX agree that its job is far from over. While participation of females in athletics has increased, women continue to receive less funding than men. Women's athletic programs at the Big Ten college level received just 30.5 percent of their schools' athletic budgets in the 2000-01 school year. "The biggest gaps exist in operating budgets," said Sandy Barbour, senior associate athletic director at Notre Dame. "Those gaps need to be made up. Women's programs need to settle into ways of doing things and then they'll be adequately funded. I'm not a big fan of dollar for dollar, but each athlete in their sport has to have the opportunity to participate in whatever way they decide." Women also don't hold their share of coaching and athletic administration positions. Men hold 80 percent of all coaching positions at the high school and college levels, according to Donna Lopiano of the Women's Sports Foundation. Women hold just 31 percent of athletic administration positions at the college level. Lopiano would like to see the Office for Civil Rights take a more active role. "I think the No. 1 thing the OCR should do is demonstrate how the law should be enforced. Look at the data and that's obvious," she said. "The other thing is, the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act requires every college to do an annual report on numbers in terms of participation, numbers, etc. I think one thing the OCR can do is post numbers online. . . Another thing they can do is more investigations." Is there a future for women's athletics without Title IX? The jury is still out. "Title IX has created so many opportunities for women," said Anne Meyers Drysdale, a basketball commentator for ESPN. "They've received opportunities to play. They're getting opportunities to be recruited like male athletes. Title IX has been instrumental in all of that. "They'd be making a grave mistake if they get rid of it. I'd hate to think what would happen. A lot would be lost." | ||||||||||
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