Task Force Media Notes, July 7

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

BOSTON COLLEGE, NORTH DAKOTA TO DROP WRESTLING TEAMS
A pair of major colleges recently announced that they would drop their wrestling teams: Div. I Boston College and Div. II University of North Dakota. Both programs are very important to the wrestling community, and represent a setback for the sport.

Boston College will actually be dropping three men*s teams: wrestling, lacrosse and water polo. In a common word-game used by colleges when they slash programs, the sports have been *designated club sports.* The cuts will not take place until four years from now, coming down in the 2002-03 season.

At the same time, BC will create women*s rowing as a varsity sport within a few years and add 47 scholarships to the women*s athletic program. BC is up front with what it is doing with this decision, claiming that *an equal opportunity for participation by men and women is the backbone of a strategic plan.* This decision is basically about Title IX gender quotas.

What the press release does not mention is that Boston College is one of the 25 universities named in a law suit by the Women*s Law Center last year, concerning athletic scholarships for women. Many of the colleges cited in the suit have buckled under to the pressure and dropped men*s sports, including neighboring Boston University which eliminated its football team.

The only positive aspect of this decision is that the team will not be lost for four years. This gives local wrestling supporters a chance to fight and find creative ways to retain the sport. Meetings of top wrestling leaders in Massachusetts have already been held to address this issue. The problem is that it is awfully hard to get a university to change its mind, once a decision has been announced.

The North Dakota decision was not unexpected, as the university announced over a month ago that it would be dropping one men*s sports team this year. The local press expected that the choice would be between baseball and wrestling, and that most likely wrestling would get the axe. Unfortunately, the press was right.

In a terse, four-paragraph press release, UND said the wrestling team was dropped *as a result of mandated budget cuts.* The bottom line, according to the release, is the cut would *lower its operating budget by $95,000.*

Title IX was not mentioned, although the release announced that now UND will sponsor eight men*s sports and eight women*s sports. As is often the case, no new opportunities were created. It is naive to say that Title IX had nothing to do with this cut. When budget cuts are necessary, the current interpretation of Title IX by the federal regulators and the courts make it impossible to cut women*s sports. Many choose to drop men*s teams, or slash all men*s budgets. In either case, nobody wins.

PORTLAND STATE WRESTLING TEAM SAVED BY CAMPUS STUDENTS
The successful college wrestling team at Portland State University has been saved by the school*s students, after the college announced its decision to drop wrestling and baseball from the athletic program.

When the team was dropped, the PSU president left a door open for the college to retain the program. According to the press release, *the future of wrestling is contingent upon outside support, the continued allocation of fees by the Student Fees Committee and the reallocation of fees originally intended to support baseball to the Athletics Department.* That is exactly what happened.

Portland State*s Student Fee Committee voted to support wrestling financially to replace the lost university funding. The wrestling team will continue next year, and make its scheduled move to Div. I status in the Pac-10 Conference.

The entire Portland wrestling community should be applauded for creating such a strong program that the students wanted to save the team. Coach Marlin Grahn, his student-athletes, alumni and local wrestling supporters should all deserve credit. But, as Grahn told the Associated Press, he compared the situation to *taking the last seat on one of the Titanic*s lifeboats.*

This situation is another example why interest, the forgotten prong of Title IX enforcement, must be given more weight in the overall picture. Wrestling is so important to the Portland State campus and community that students were willing to step up and find the funding for the program. The tragedy is that men*s sports teams, such as PSU Wrestling, have to go through such pain to save their sports. Title IX often forces male athletes from many sports to fight each other for the last seats on the lifeboat.

TOMPKINS CORTLAND CC BRINGS BACK WRESTLING; GRAND VALLEY STATE MAY RETURN
One of the most difficult things to do in college sports is to bring back a team once it has been eliminated from the athletics department. In the early 1970*s, there were about 775 college wrestling teams; now there are just over 300 squads. Of those 400-plus dropped wrestling programs, very few universities have re-instated the team. It has proven easier to start a team at a university that never had a program, than to try to get a team back once it is gone.

In the current climate of Title IX, it takes courage, wisdom, and often substantial funding, to bring back a college wrestling team. In spite of these obstacles, the interest in wrestling remains strong, and some lost programs have actually been brought back to life. In addition to protecting the college programs that exist, wrestling leaders must also work hard to find ways to create new ones.

Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3) in Dryden, N.Y., a junior college near Ithaca, will bring back its wrestling program, which was dropped in 1994. The team will be coached by Larry Hinkle and Jim Valentine, and a full schedule of dual meets and tournaments has already been set. According to coach Hinkle, the team wants to *be able to compete with the very best and become the very best.* This goal is possible, because of the interest in wrestling and the wealth of talent in New York and neighboring states.

Strong community support and interest in wrestling may be the key to bringing back college wrestling teams. A group of motivated citizens in Michigan have formed an organization called Friends of College Wrestling. The mission statement is simple and direct: *Friends of College Wrestling will show support for colleges and universities with wrestling. Our second goal is to re-establish wrestling at colleges and universities across the state of Michigan. This will provide opportunities for 14,887 high school students who wrestle each year.*

The organization is taking a multi-faceted approach to the problem, raising both funds and awareness on the local and state level. The fruits of their efforts may first be realized at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) in Allendale, Mich., a school which dropped its wrestling team a few years ago. GVSU had a strong team for many years, and actually hosted the 1984 Final Olympic Wrestling Trials.

Friends of College Wrestling has organized a wrestling rally at a GVSU football game next fall, aiming to bring thousands of wrestling fans on campus to support the university. The group is selling thousands of t-shirts for Grand Valley State wrestling, raising additional funds for the efforts. Important local leaders have been recruited to support the effort, and meetings have been held with college administrators. Reportedly, the president of GVSU will make a decision about bringing back wrestling next November. If this works, teams at Grand Rapids CC, Hope College and other Michigan campuses are next on the agenda.

Friends of College Wrestling has designed an information packet, explaining the positive financial impact of a wrestling program at GVSU, and the other benefits to the campus that wrestling will bring. Its biggest challenge will be overcoming the gender quotas and financial problems that caused the team to be dropped in the first place. Leaders hope to create a successful plan that can be used across the nation to revive college wrestling teams through community support and interest.

INDEPENDENT WOMEN*S FORUM MAKES MAJOR IMPACT IN FIGHT FOR FAIRNESS
One of the biggest steps forward in the fight for fairness in sports was the commitment by the Independent Women*s Forum (IWF) to get involved. This organization is a nationally recognized women*s group in Washington, D.C. that addresses major public issues and works to create change.

Last summer, Barbara Ledeen, the Executive Director for Policy for the IWF, made the decision to be a leader in the effort to combat the unintended consequences of Title IX. The Play Fair project was developed, and the IWF funded a full-time employee to work daily for the cause. The first project director was Jessica Gavora, who did an outstanding job in the position, until a political writing opportunity emerged. In 1998, Kimberly Schuld came on board, and has continued to help make substantial progress on a national scale. The IWF has worked closely with National Coalition for Athletics Equity (NCAE), another Washington, D.C. organization that was formed specifically to address the Title IX issue.

One area of great success has been expanded media coverage on the issue, with many major stories on national television and radio, and in newspapers and magazines. The IWF was a key player in working with ABC News, which developed an outstanding piece on 20/20 featuring John Stossell. Other journalists that have worked with the IWF on features have included John Leo of U.S. News and World Report, syndicated columnist George Will, Kathleen Parker of the Philadelphia Inquirer, plus publications including as the Wall Street Journal and George Magazine.

There is a common misconception that organizations which fight for gender quotas, such as the National Organization for Women, the Women*s Law Center and the Women*s Sports Foundation, speak for all women on the Title IX issue. The IWF brings a different perspective to the public forum, and has made a major impact in changing national perception. The IWF*s success in helping create change on other issues is well documented, and its commitment to the fight for fairness will help wrestling and all men*s sports affected by Title IX.

SCHOOLS HAVE FLEXIBILITY IN TITLE IX, ACCORDING TO EXPERT IN THE NCAA NEWS
Nobody understands Title IX better than the people who formulate the government policies that regulate the law. Valerie Bonnette is a former staff member with the Office of Civil Rights who helped write the 1990 Title IX investigators manual. She now heads Good Sports, Inc., a gender-equity consulting service. Her recent article in the NCAA News, entitled *Schools should use flexibility of Title IX,* gave some very enlightening perspective on the issue. Consider these excerpts:

*Some women*s advocacy group representatives suggest that the first test - proportionality - is the only valid method of compliance. Some men*s advocacy group representatives suggest that proportionality is the only enforced method of compliance, so men*s opportunities are being eliminated due to a numbers game. Under Title IX, neither statement is accurate. Unfortunately, in an uninformed and misguided quest for proportionality, some administrators are needlessly cutting men*s opportunities.*

*Under Title IX, the underrepresentation of women in the athletics program is not, by itself, a compliance problem. If equal opportunity is provided and students of one sex choose not to take advantage of the opportunity, an institution has met its obligations. In other words, if equal opportunity truly exists, then participation rates are irrelevant.* *While those NCAA Division I-A administrators operating self-supporting athletics programs may perceive Title IX as a particular challenge, the law permits more flexibility than most administrators are aware, and it is this flexibility that administrators should explore to the fullest.*

*Considering the flexibility permitted by Title IX, achieving compliance on most campuses can and should be painless. But identifying the painless methods may require education, flexibility, teamwork and patience. Administrators should explore all options before limiting anyone*s opportunities.*

DORIS DIXON SLAMMED BY PUBLIC FOR NEGATIVE COMMENTS ABOUT WRESTLING
Doris Dixon, an NCAA spokesperson in Washington, D.C., has blasted the sport of wrestling on more than one occasion recently. Her job is to help protect the interest of the NCAA, which was against a recent effort in Congress to require colleges to disclose their plans to cut sports programs. In an effort to defeat this legislation, Dixon made public statements that were insulting to the wrestling community.

Her statements have not gone unnoticed. Former newspaper editor Mike Chapman challenged her statements, citing facts from USA Wrestling and the National Federation of High School Associations. And consider this rebuttal by Steve Hayleck of Dayton, Md., a local reader of the Washington Post, who wrote a letter to the editor about some of Dixon*s comments:

*I am appalled by Doris Dixon*s focusing on wrestling to deliver a broadside against men*s sports (letters, June 9). She cites statistics that show wrestling on the scholastic level has been in decline over the past 20 years. However, all men*s sports have shown declining numbers of participants over this period because there are fewer males in high school.*

*In discussing the factors involved in college*s discontinuing wrestling programs, Ms. Dixon fails to include the fact that the current application of Title IX has eliminated men*s spots without really increasing opportunities for women.*

*Wrestling is one of the few athletic opportunities truly open to everyone. If one looks at the pictures of the NCAA wrestling champions, one will see a greater balance of diversity than almost any sport.*

*It*s terrible that an NCAA spokesperson has taken a public forum to bash one of its more successful sports.*

BROWN UNIVERSITY AGREES TO GENDER QUOTA AS PART OF HISTORIC LAW SUIT
The final issues in the now famous Brown University case have been settled. The University was found by a federal district court to have violated Title IX in its athletic department. Brown attempted to bring the case to the Supreme Court, which declined to review the lower court decision last May. This is the case which has helped fuel the push for proportionality and has helped cause the loss of so many men*s sports programs in the last year.

According to an article by Mark Asher in the Washington Post, U.S. District Court Judge Ernest Torres has approved a plan for Brown to comply with Title IX. Brown will elevate women*s water polo to varsity level and fund women*s water polo, gymnastics, skiing and fencing for at least the next three years. No men*s sports have been dropped.

As part of the deal, Brown has agreed to ensure that the percentage of women competing in varsity sports would remain within 3.5 percent of the university*s female population. If it attempts to drop a women*s sport, or add another men*s team, the percentage will drop to 2.25 percent. Brown has basically been forced to agree to a specific gender quota.

This is exactly what Brown spent so much time and money to try to avoid. Considered by many a model athletic department that provided a large and diverse sports program, Brown attempted to drop both men*s and women*s teams for budgetary reasons. When Brown was sued by women student-athletes, it attempted to use interest, one of the prongs of Title IX enforcement, as part of its defense. When Brown*s argument was rejected in the courts, it caused a chilling effect on college campuses everywhere.

Having Brown agree to a specific quota number will give even more ammunition for the special interest groups pushing for proportionality. The argument will go that since Brown has agreed to be within 3.5 percent of proportionality, then every college in America should be forced to reach that level.

This kind of reasoning is wrong, and not necessary. As Valerie Bonnette wrote in the NCAA News, Title IX has much flexibility. Rigid gender quotas do not reflect the unique situation on each campus, and will only lead to the loss of more men*s sports programs. We encourage college administrators to stand strong against the push for proportionality, and seek other creative alternatives.

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Gary Abbott
Director of Communications
USA Wrestling
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ph. (719) 598-8181 ext. 641
fax (719) 598-9440
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