Task Force Media Notes

TASK FORCE MEDIA NOTES
VOL. 3, NO. 3 (February 10, 1999)

This is part of a series of regular reports to update, inform, educate and stimulate public discussion

FOUR MEN'S TEAMS AT MIAMI OF OHIO SURVIVE - UNTIL APRIL DEADLINE

The Board of Trustees at the Univ. of Miami, at a Feb. 6 meeting in Oxford, Ohio, voted to delay a decision on the recommendation to eliminate four men's sports programs - wrestling, soccer, golf and tennis.

The trustees have asked that the university, through a cooperative effort by the athletics department and the development office, raise at least $13 million by April 16, the date of the next trustees meeting. The plan is also to raise $700,000 by adding $50 to the student activity fees. If these efforts fail, the teams are expected to be cut in April.

A longterm goal of raising at least $26 million in order to endow all four programs was also mentioned at the meeting.

James Garland, the university president, proposed dropping the four teams in order to save over $400,000, as well as help Miami Univ. to more closely achieve proportionality in its athletic programs. The athletic department is projected to lose $1 million next year.

For fans, alumni and athletes involved in the four programs, the decision was a small victory. "As long as we are here and we're still breathing, we're going to be fighting," said soccer coach Bobby Kramig to the Cincinnati Post.

One of the reasons for the delayed decision was the vast public outcry on campus and in the region to the proposed dropped teams. Another was a threatened lawsuit by the affected athletes, with Task Force legal member Lou Goldstein leading the legal team.

IS IT REALISTIC THAT ANYBODY CAN RAISE $13 MILLION IN TWO MONTHS???

Although athletes from all four targeted teams at Miami were pleased that the Board of Trustees did not eliminate their programs at this meeting, it may be that the death of the programs has just been delayed. Once the elation from surviving another day has passed, these athletes, fans and alumni will be faced with the daunting task of having to come up with $13 million in about two months.

The tactic of asking targeted programs to come up with funding in order to avoid elimination has been used on other campuses in the past. In some rare cases, the campus community actually is able to come up with the cash. However, in many cases, the demand is too difficult to achieve in a short time frame. Basically, it could be argued that the teams are being held hostage, and their supporters are being set up to fail.

The university feels that it can't lose with this kind of approach. If the sports teams are able to raise the money, great!!! Problem solved. But if the sports teams fall short of this incredibly high goal, then the university can drop the teams and say that it gave them a chance. It gives an illusion that the trustees actually tried to solve the problem.

And just how difficult will it be for four teams to raise $13 million in two months? Consider a similar situation. Almost two years ago, Syracuse University, after dropping its wrestling team, agreed to allow boosters to raise $2 million by 2000 to keep its program. At this time, the Syracuse supporters are still far from their goal.

Although the situation at Miami of Ohio may be different than at Syracuse and other schools, it does show how difficult this kind of fundraising can be, especially when an execution date has already been set...

AS USUAL, STUDENTS OF BOTH SEXES ARE AGAINST DROPPING MIAMI'S SPORTS TEAMS

Throughout the debate at Miami of Ohio, both before and during the Board of Trustees meeting, one consistent theme was apparent from all the press reports. On campus, across the board, men and women athletes were dead against the plan to drop the programs.

In articles in many of the local daily newspapers, representatives from a variety of sports programs and other community leaders came out in support of the four men's teams. Consider these quotes from women involved on campus:

* "It's right to correct some of the inequities that exist, but I think we should do it in a manner that doesn't bring about another wrong. Our gains should not be at the expense of the men's teams. Two wrongs don't make a right." - women's soccer captain Katie Cleverdon in the Dayton Daily News.

* "Working to bring about gender equity is the right thing, but gender equity was not mandated to take away men's teams." - Sally Lloyd of Oxford, Ohio in the Dayton Daily News.

To this point, it seems the Trustees heard enough noise from their own people that the vote on the original plan was delayed for the time being. Trustee Roger L. Howe, who came up with the resolution asking the teams to raise the funds, said the public opinion moved him. "I got a pretty clear message and the message was 'Try harder.' All these people who say they want to help, let's give them the opportunity," he told the Dayton Daily News.

The remaining question is what the trustees will do if the campus community falls short of the excessive buyout total. Will the trustees be listening to the people in April?

DAYTON NEWS COLUMNIST GARY NUHN CONSIDERS TITLE IX "LEGALIZED BLACKMAIL"

In one of the most scathing columns against the insanity of dropped sports teams caused by proportionality quotas, columnist Gary Nuhn of the Dayton Daily News wrote a story entitled "Numbers not part of Title IX" in the February 7 issue of his newspaper. If space permitted, the entire column would be reprinted in these Media Notes. However, the following excerpts provide focus on where Nuhn is coming from...

* "The Executioner came to Miami University's door Saturday and was turned away. She'll be back. The Executioner is a 27-year-old piece of legislation called Title IX that was meant to guarantee equal opportunity to females. Instead, it has turned into the switch-and-bait of college athletics. It has, as intended, opened doors for women, but it has also slammed them on men."

* "But as with most if not all government mandates, Title IX went horribly amok. Opportunity has been equalized; the war won. Universities have added women's sports programs across the spectrum - crew, soccer, track, volleyball. I challenge you this: Show me a single woman athlete anywhere at an NCAA institution who lacks the opportunity to compete. Show me one. It can't be done."

* "The obvious question of whether an equal percentage of women in any given group want to play varsity sports was never addressed. That should be the focal point, but it never is. It's always about smoke. And that's where we are today, killing men's programs to try to meet a standard that was long ago fulfilled - equal opportunity."

* "I attended a 3-hour, 15-minute public hearing at Miami's Shriver Hall on Friday, and as the two sides alternately controlled the microphone what struck me was how so many women are stuck in the 70's. Those women fought the good fight two decades ago, and now they told their stories and paraded their battle scars, and it was clear there once were egregious faults in the system. But what they wanted, in essence, were war reparations. We suffered then, so men must suffer now."

* "So good, so needed, so right when it was passed, this instead is what Title IX has become - legalized blackmail."

CINCINNATI ENQUIRER COLUMNIST PAUL DAUGHERTY WRITES THAT TITLE IX IS WRONG

In another major newspaper that covers Miami of Ohio sports, Cincinnati Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty had his own strong opinions in an article entitled "Call me a swine: Title IX is wrong," which also appeared on February 7.

Like Nuhn, Daugherty comments upon the Title IX debate on the Miami campus. This column, in its entirety, is also a compelling case against the loss of opportunity caused by Title IX enforcement. The theme of his argument can be understood from a few selected excerpts:

* "Male student jocks are getting squeezed. All over. It is because of funding problems, but also because of Title IX, the well-meaning, knuckleheaded federal law requiring that women's college sports be funded in direct proportion to their enrollment numbers... This is a law designed not to satisfy the needs of students, but to fulfill the mandates of government."

* "(At Miami) Men's tennis might be history. So might wrestling, soccer and golf. No women's sports will be added, though. There is no money for that. This is not about making things better for women. It's about making the government happy by making the numbers look good."

* "It's bad enough when you take scholarships away from guys who want to compete and give them to women who may or may not want to. But when you are charged by a bad law to take away from men to make things appear better for women, that's inexcusable."

* "There are schools, lots of them, where females are missing out because of bloated men's programs. That's wrong. But women have never been as interested in playing competitive sports as men. And guess what, Uncle Sam? That's OK."

* "Miami isn't the only place where cuts are coming. It's just a very good example of a very bad law."

PRESS CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON, D.C. EXPLAINS HOW GENDER QUOTAS ARE DESTRUCTIVE

On the same day that the trustees at Miami University was listening to leaders on campus about its Title IX proposals, a press conference was held at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. entitled: "The Unintended Consequences of Title IX - Why Gender Quotas Are Killing Men's Sports."

NCAA Div. I wrestling champion Stephen Neal, who is among the Cal-State Bakersfield wrestlers suing to save the wrestling team, was among the featured speakers. Many of the other major players in the battle for fairness in sports opportunities were featured in the program: the National Coalition for Athletics Equity, the Independent Women's Forum and the Center for Individual Rights. We will report more fully on this press conference in a future Media Notes.

Eric Pearson, the former wrestling coach at Princeton Univ. and a leader with the National Coalition for Athletics Equity, made an impressive address to the National Press Club. Said Pearson:

* "Title IX is a classic example of how a well-intentioned law can be horribly distorted and twisted by federal bureaucrats."

* "During the four years of my tenure as head coach of Princeton University's wrestling team, I saw with my own eyes the corrosive effect that gender quotas have had on the social fabric of our institutions of higher learning... All this in order to comply with a quota scripted by the cold hands of bureaucrats here in Washington. This is a law, now, so out of touch with its original intent, that even its original crafters had stepped forward to criticize it."

* "The current enforcement of Title IX will eliminate the student athlete experience for thousands of children, reduce the number of qualified coaches and mentors, and corrode the principle of offering broad-based athletic opportunities. In the end, it will serve to artificially cap sports and education opportunities for women as well."

* "The NCAE is devoted to protecting opportunities for all people with a love of sport, regardless of their gender... The NCAE is here to give notice that it is our intent to carry the argument to the American family so that they can decide what is right. To ensure this happens, we hope to bring the debate out into the public in a nationwide dialogue. We can live with what the majority wants for our kids, but we can't stand for un-elected federal bureaucrats and our court system enforcing a quota policy that was never approved by Congress."

* "We have faith that when it comes to sports, citizens of this country won't tolerate the notion that bureaucrats are deciding who gets to play and who gets cut. That's the job of the coach. Educators are tired of Washington telling them how to run their schools. We just hope change comes sooner rather than later, before we harm another generation of young Americans."

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