Title IX Crisis Escalates, With More Lost Opportunity

TASK FORCE MEDIA NOTES
VOL. 2, NO. 5 (April 21, 1998)
This is part of a series of regular reports to update, inform, educate and stimulate public discussion

TITLE IX CRISIS ESCALATES, WITH MORE LOST OPPORTUNITY

Just when you thought that the Title IX debate had quieted down, the crisis has escalated up in recent weeks. With the coming of spring has been a number of university decisions to eliminate men’s sports in response to the push for proportionality. In addition, the battle has moved forward in the courts and the U.S. Congress, with many serious consequences at stake.

Wrestling has taken a hard hit in recent days. St. Olaf College, a NCAA Div. III college in Northfield, Minn., said it will eliminate its varsity wrestling team. Bismarck State College, a junior college in North Dakota, has also dropped its wrestling team.

Miami of Ohio, a NCAA Div. I school with a long wrestling tradition, has announced a Title IX plan which includes dropping wrestling and men’s track within a year. The wrestling program at Fergus Falls Community College in Minnesota is in big danger, as university administrators push to eliminate the sport. Rumors that other teams may be wiped out are bouncing around the wrestling community at an alarming rate.

It’s not just wrestling. Southwest Texas State University has announced that it will drop its men’s tennis team this year, and will create a women’s soccer program in the fall. This is a blatant elimination of male opportunity to achieve a gender quota.

Because of the variety and volume of Title IX activity on the national scene at this time, our Media Notes will be expanded this week. We ask that you read each and every segment closely, to understand how dramatic the unintended consequences of Title IX have become.

MIAMI OF OHIO ANNOUNCES PLAN TO CUT WRESTLING AND MEN’S TRACK

In March, Miami of Ohio wrestling coach Chuck Angello was hearing rumors both on and off campus that his Div. I wrestling program was in danger. Angello asked the university to let him know the status of the program, in order to be fair to his returning athletes and prospective recruits.

Days before the sold-out NCAA Championships were held in nearby Cleveland, Angello was told by administrators that his program was safe for the time being. A headline in the Cleveland Plain Dealer announced that Miami would continue its wrestling tradition. Everything seemed just fine.

NOT SO FAST. Less than a month later, Miami of Ohio announced the results of a draft Title IX plan by an outside consultant, who recommended eliminating men’s wrestling and men’s indoor and outdoor track and field at the end of the 1998-99 year. It seems that the university told the wrestling coach that his program was safe as a ruse, just to avoid the massive media attention and public outcry that the “real” intentions would have brought down if it were made public during the NCAA meet.

According to the press release, “the funds saved, approximately $300,000, would be redirected toward women’s varsity programs.” The athletic department must respond to the plan by April 24, and President James C. Garland will present his final recommendation at the September 18 board meeting.

Garland had the gall to decry the consequences of Title IX, while still putting forward a plan to destroy three men’s sports teams. Said Garland in the press release, “I am very concerned about the impact of the law on men’s sports, as it has evolved. Title IX has become a blunt instrument that does not adequately acknowledge the economic realities of intercollegiate athletics. Nevertheless, Title IX is the law and must be obeyed to the best of our ability.”

This cynical attitude is just an excuse by Miami of Ohio administrators to justify their appalling plan to slash men’s programs. Clearly, within a 22-sport athletic department, there are creative ways to develop women’s athletics without eliminating male teams. Many other colleges have dealt with Title IX challenges without wiping out teams. Please don’t blame the outside consultant for this report - consultants are paid to suggest a plan that reflects what the university really wants to achieve.

Information from within Miami of Ohio’s athletic department indicates that one of the reasons that wrestling was targeted was its high participation rate. By cutting wrestling, you eliminate a large number of participants, which makes it easier to achieve a quota. In effect, wrestling is being punished for being so popular among college students.

The Miami wrestling team deserves a much better fate. The Miami of Ohio wrestling team has been a member of the Mid-American Conference since 1951. The school has developed a number of star athletes, including 1992 Olympic team member Mark Coleman and 1984 Olympic team alternate Mike Holcombe. Six NCAA Div. I All-Americans have come from the program. In the history of MAC wrestling, only two other teams (Ohio U, Kent State) have won more matches, had more MAC champions and qualified more athletes for the NCAA Wrestling Championships than Miami of Ohio. Miami of Ohio is in the heart of wrestling territory, as Ohio is considered one of the nation’s wrestling hotbeds.

ST. OLAF DROPS WRESTLING AND HOCKEY AS PART OF NEW “INITIATIVE”

In a flowery press release, trumpeting a new direction for the entire university, St. Olaf College of Northfield, Minn., axed its wrestling and hockey programs, wiping out dozens of opportunities for male athletes without creating any new opportunities for anybody.

The release, entitled “St. Olaf College announces initiatives for the 21st Century,” tells the happy story about how the school has “rolled out initiatives to effectively position the college for the next century.” Buried on the third page of this self-congratulatory tale is the following paragraph:

“In addition, the college is converting its intercollegiate hockey and wrestling programs to club sports. The savings from this transition will be used to enhance St. Olaf’s remaining intercollegiate athletics.”

Beware such double-speak. The college is not “converting” anything. This is a cowardly way of saying that the university is eliminating two varsity men’s programs. The college gives no other reason for the bloodletting than to “enhance” the rest of the teams on campus.

St. Olaf President Mark U. Edwards, Jr. is quoted with the same kind of lame excuse that many administrators give after gutting sports programs. “I can’t emphasize enough what a difficult decision this was for us. But in the end, our commitment to quality and toward ensuring that our resources are not spread too thin won out,” he said.

Come on, Mr. Edwards. Citizens are not stupid. Be straight with the people and explain what is really going on. Is St. Olaf experiencing Title IX pressure? Or has it decided to boost a few favored sports teams at the expense of other programs? Speaking with a forked tongue and hiding the real story behind fancy words does not cut it very long. Put the cards on the table and deal...

CONGRESS WANTS COLLEGES TO TELL PLANS TO PROSPECTIVE STUDENT-ATHLETES

A creative and constructive proposal is being discussed in Congress, which would require colleges to inform incoming students if the school is going to eliminate a sport or reduce its resources or participants during the upcoming four years.

The reason for this bill is to protect the young women and men who enroll in a college and commit to participate in their sports program. These kids agree to attend that school, naively believing that the university has committed to having a team for them during their college years. What has happened to thousands of young athletes is that the university dumps the team and leaves them in the lurch. All the proposed bill asks is that universities are upfront and honest with their incoming students about their plans for the sports program for a four-year period.

The bill, which is referred to as the Title IV of the Higher Education Act Section 485 (a) (1) (g) (1) (k), is very fair and makes sense. The bill has been passed by the appropriate House Committees and is currently being reviewed on the committee level in the Senate. However, in the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, the bill has been bogged down, and may be watered down with amendments, because of a powerful opponent - the NCAA and its member institutions.

The NCAA came out with a page 1 article entitled “Congress considering requiring predictions of sports cutbacks”. The entire tone of the article was negative. The opening paragraph is most telling. “Two pieces of federal legislation currently being considered by the House and Senate may restrict institution’s decisions regarding sports sponsorship.” The NCAA is trying to turn this into a debate over institutional control and federal interference, rather than one of fairness to young students.

Consider this quote from the story. “‘This is a terrible intrusion into institutional integrity and discretion,’ said Doris A. Dixon, NCAA director of federal relations.” What Dixon is saying is that colleges want to be able to continue to attract student-athletes, then have the freedom to eliminate or decimate their teams once they enroll, without accountability to anyone.

This ties in directly to the Title IX issue, another federal law which many on the college scene have embraced. In practice, many colleges, in an effort to comply with Title IX proportionality quotas, have cut or drastically reduced sports programs without warning. This new bill in Congress offers protection to those harmed by this unfair slashing, by making the colleges disclose in advance any plans to destroy programs.

Parents, coaches, athletes and sports fans who care about the future of all sports have a responsibility to contact their representatives in the House and Senate, asking them to help protect the kids who wish to be college athletes. If the voice of the people is heard on this issue, then this promising bill will be passed into law, and the special interest lobbying efforts by the NCAA will be ignored.

SOUTHWEST TEXAS STATE BLATANTLY CUTS MEN’S TENNIS TEAM FOR GENDER QUOTA

An example of the athletes that Congress would like to protect are the members of the men’s tennis team at Southwest Texas State University. This Div. I-AA institution announced recently that it would drop its men’s tennis program at the end of the year, and add a women’s soccer team in the fall.

This move is no more than a blunt attempt to comply with proportionality quotas. Coming into this year, Southwest Texas State sponsored eight men’s and seven women’s sports teams. This move will change the ratio to eight women’s and seven men’s teams. It is not coincidental that Southwest Texas State is currently going through the NCAA certification process, and gender equity issues are being brought into play.

In their press release, Athletic Director Michael Alden pitted the outgoing men’s team against the incoming women’s team. Said Alden, “It is incumbent upon us to offer additional opportunities in our women’s sports programs and currently there are greater opportunities in women’s soccer than in men’s tennis.” This kind of rhetoric will only add fuel to the animosity between men and women athletes that has been caused on campuses when programs are cut because of Title IX.

Certainly, Southwest Texas State should provide more opportunity to women. However, it should not be at the expense of the men on the tennis team. The college has sponsored men’s tennis since the start of the century. These young men came to Southwest Texas expecting to play tennis for their four-year careers. They are now out on the street, having to decide whether to transfer to another college in order to play tennis, or stay at Southwest Texas and graduate without playing the sport that they love. Thousands of young athletes have gone through this excruciating experience in recent years. When will this madness ever end?

BISMARCK STATE COLLEGE TO DROP ITS WRESTLING PROGRAM

Bismarck State College (BSC), the junior college in the Bismarck, N.D., announced that it would be dropping its wrestling team and has already entered its last competition. The reason? One factor is there are not enough college wrestling teams in the area for BSC to compete against. The cost of travel to competitions became more than the school could afford.

The program was dropped by athletic director Ed Kringstad, was the team’s wrestling coach for 24 seasons. BSC started wrestling in 1961, and has had numerous Junior College All-Americans over the years.

When you hear the word economics, you must take a closer look. Why did BSC have to travel so much to compete? Because so many other college wrestling programs have been dropped, many due to proportionality (gender quotas). If BSC was not dropped due to Title IX, its economic problems were probably caused by it.

In an ironic fact, in its last NJCAA National Tournament, Bismarck State College heavyweight Brock Lesner claimed the national title, and his team placed 10th in the final standings. Next year, there will be no BSC wrestlers in the tournament.

THIEL COLLEGE SHOWS COURAGE IN ADDING TWO MALE TEAMS TO PROGRAM

For those who say that it is impossible for colleges to add men’s teams in the current climate of Title IX, consider small Thiel College, a Div. III university of nearly 1,000 students in Greenville, Pa. On April 6, Thiel announced that it would be adding men’s soccer as a varsity sport this fall, and would reinstate the men’s tennis program next spring.

Thiel will upgrade its club soccer team, to meet the expanded interest in soccer in their community and around the nation. In addition, the men’s tennis team was brought back after tennis facilities were brought up to standard. The women’s tennis team was brought back a year ago.

Going into the year, Thiel had nine women’s teams and eight men’s teams. These two new programs will give Thiel 10 men’s teams and nine women’s teams. This move could make Thiel a target for the special interest groups that attack universities that don’t fit neatly into gender quotas. However, Thiel also announced that it is investigating adding a women’s lacrosse club team, with the goal of eventually going to a varsity level. This college is clearly trying to provide opportunities.

Thiel is working to accommodate the interests of its students, and is also making a continuing effort to expand opportunities to women athletes. Under the second and third prong of the Title IX law, Thiel should have no Title IX problems. We hope that those who are pushing proportionality for their own personal reasons will not target Thiel for punishment for having the courage to do what is right.

COURT SAYS THAT NCAA IS SUBJECT TO TITLE IX IN ITS OWN OPERATIONS

The special interest groups that have used Title IX as a sledgehammer to force gender quotas on individual college campuses have achieved a victory in court against the largest organization that governs college sports - the NCAA itself.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that Title IX applies directly to the NCAA because the association receive dues from colleges that receive federal aid. The ruling dealt with the case of Renee M. Smith, a graduate student at the Univ. of Pittsburgh, regarding a decision by the NCAA which denied her eligibility to play volleyball at Pitt. Smith charged that the NCAA violated antitrust laws and excluded her on the basis of sex - citing Title IX. Smith’s suit was dismissed by a federal district court.

The appeals court sent her amended complaint back to the district court for retrial. The basis for this, according to the court, was “that the NCAA receives dues from its members which receive federal funds, if proven, would subject the NCAA to the requirements of Title IX.”

Those pushing for gender quotas jumped right in, looking for leverage for their cause. The Chronicle for Higher Education wrote, “The ruling could force the NCAA to either raise scholarship limits for women or lower scholarship limits for men, said Deborah Brake, senior counsel for the National Women’s Law Center... Ms. Brake, who helped argue the case on Ms. Smith’s behalf, said the NCAA would have to spend as much money staging and publicizing its women’s championships as it does on its men’s championships.”

The NCAA was quick to point out that independent federal agencies have said that the NCAA has done a good job with its championships. According to the NCAA News, “Ironically, the NCAA was advised March 10 that an investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had found no wrongdoing on the part of the Association with regard to sponsorship of championships.”

What does this all mean? Does it mean that the NCAA will have to cut back on its amazingly successful Final Four men’s basketball tournament, in order to spend more money on women’s events? Does it mean that more scholarship money will be forcibly taken away from men to achieve a quota? All of this is conjecture. What it does mean is that the NCAA will now become the target of the kind of legal actions that have been plaguing their member institutions for many years. This could make an ugly mess even uglier, as the NCAA will have to spend considerable money and staff time fending off law suits on a wide range of issues, with Title IX as the mechanism.

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