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Title IX
by H. Clay McEldowney '69 former Chairman of the Friends of Princeton Wrestling January 22, 1997 Because of decisions passed down by the courts and because of policies being implemented by the Office of Civil Rights in reference to Title IX, part of the education amendments passed by Congress in 1972, we are losing college and university athletic programs at an alarming rate. Title IX requires that schools not deny opportunity for participation on the basis of sex. However, the Office of Civil Rights has adopted a proportionality rule which requires that schools adjust athletics participation so that it is proportional by sex to enrollment. Unless the gender-neutral athletics participation ratio is equal to the enrollment ratio, enrollment proportionality cannot be maintained in athletics without perpetually discriminating on the basis of sex. For this reason, the policies being implemented by OCR and its director, Norma Cantu, are contrary to statute. OCR's policies, which were clarified by Ms. Cantu in September, 1995, reinforce the proportionality rule and provide no protection to prevent a school experiencing budget constraints from eliminating male participation in order to avoid violating Title IX. What results is unfair and discriminatory to male athletes. Policies of OCR had a measurable impact at Princeton. In 1993, the University announced that it was discontinuing the varsity wrestling program in part because of the need to provide better parity in the amount of money being spent on men's and women's sports. Wrestling was chosen to be dropped because of its "favorable" impact on gender equity at the University. We are fortunate that the University trustees agreed to allow the varsity wrestling program to continue at Princeton and that our alumni have come forward to support it. In June, we kicked off an endowment effort with cash and pledges of $513,000 plus life trusts of $721,000. Other wrestling programs haven't been quite so lucky. Since 1972, over 250 wrestling programs have been dropped from the college ranks. The most recent casualty in the holocaust is Syracuse's wrestling program, which, along with men's gymnastics, just learned without warning that it will be dropped and that women's softball will be added. To my knowledge, only Princeton wrestling has been saved from the ravages of Title IX. In addition, there have been countless athletic programs in other sports (such as San Francisco State football, UCLA swimming, and Colgate baseball) which have received the ax as a consequence of Title IX policies. We wholeheartedly support the underlying goals of Title IX, which are to advance athletic opportunities for the female gender and to allow girls and women to enjoy the same benefits from athletic participation as boys and men. However, we abhor the notion of advancing participation by one sex at the expense of another. Dale Anderson, contributing editor to W.I.N. Magazine, Mike Chapman, Editor of W.I.N. Magazine and Congressman Dennis Hastert (Ill.) have led the efforts to gain fairness and balance in Title IX. However, there need to be many more actively involved in order to save the sport. In Mr. Anderson's words, “in the long run, ... wrestling is doomed unless (by some miracle) the wrestling community begins to fight back - at least by contacting their Congressmen and Senators.” Princeton's experience in saving its wrestling program shows that it is possible to work within the system and succeed. Other colleges and universities, including Central Connecticut which earlier this year dropped its wrestling program, and Yale are looking to the Princeton model as a way of bringing varsity wrestling back to their campuses. Changing the way Title IX impacts male athletics, either by getting OCR to change its policy or by legislative clarification, faces formidable obstacles. The courts have consistently laid down interpretations of the law which have forced colleges and universities to reduce athletic opportunities for men while expanding them for women. Ms. Cantu continues to exert her influence as chairperson of OCR by advancing her office's policies. Additionally, the interests of women athletics are advanced by a full-time professional spokesperson and lobbyist, Donna Lopiano, executive director of the Women's Sports Federation. The Sporting News ranks Ms. Lopiano as one of the “100 Most Powerful People in Sports in 1994-95”, and College Sports ranks her as one of the “50 Most Influential People in College Sports.” Title IX is hailed by the media as a critical factor in the success of American women athletes in the Atlanta Centennial Olympic Games. Compare the public interest in girl's gymnastics with wrestling by the relative TV coverage of the two events. The wrestling community must find the will to pull together, turn around the Title IX train and get on a track of expanding the number of schools offering wrestling. It must develop the leadership in creating a spokesperson for the interests of wrestling and other non-revenue male sports who can alter the present imbalance of influence created by advocates for current Title IX policies. It will need to find ways to broaden the appeal of and interest in wrestling and to find ways to dramatically increase wrestling's television exposure. It can be done, but not without the time, effort and financial commitment of the wrestlers, parents, coaches, administrators, contributors and fans who care about the sport.
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