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Title IX
VOL. 1, NO. 1 (June 7, 1997) This is the first in a series of regular reports to update, inform, educate and stimulate public discussion
WOMEN’S SPORTS LEADERS AGAINST DROPPING MALE SPORTS "There has been an indiscriminate slashing of men’s sports that in unconscionable, and that has to be stopped," said Lopiano. This is not the first time that a leader from the Women’s Sports Foundation has expressed this viewpoint concerning the interpretation of Title IX legislation. In the Feb. 4, 1997 issue of the Philadelphia Daily News, Women’s Sports Foundation spokesperson Rachel Zuk said the following. "A lot of administrators will get rid of men’s non-revenue sports like wrestling or gymnastics when they are told to add a women’s sport. They get inflamed by saying the women’s sport canceled wrestling," Zuk said. "That is unfair, because we in no way want to limit men and boys from getting the advantage of playing... The idea is to give as many people the opportunity to participate as possible," said Zuk.
THE PROBLEM IS THE INTERPRETATION BY THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Congressman Dennis Hastert (R.-Ill.) has been a leader in the effort, fighting hard to take the case to other members of Congress. The Joint Task Force is working to stimulate the grassroots to work with their Congressmen to support Hastert’s efforts. There is currently a bill pending before Congress - the Higher Education Act (H.R. 6). It provides for billions of dollars for education. An effort is being mounted to attach an item which says that federal funding will be withheld from institutions that dump male athletes rather than add female athletes to satisfy Title IX compliance.
FOR EACH NEW FEMALE COLLEGE ATHLETE, THREE MEN HAVE BEEN CUT The NCAA recently published its 1997 Gender Equity Survey, which offered a five-year comparison of college athletic department activities. The study looked at college programs in 1992 and 1997, with 742 institutions responding to the survey. Leo Kocher, the co-chairperson of the Joint Task Force to Protect Wrestling, calculated that during the five years, a total of 5,009 female opportunities were added, while a total of 17,099 male opportunities were lost. For every new female college athlete, 3.4 male college athletes have been eliminated. Is this progress????
NO COMMENT FROM THE SUPREME COURT ON THE BROWN CASE To draw any major conclusions from this non-action by the Supreme Court is ludicrous. Gwen Knapp, a columnist with the San Francisco Examiner, understands that this was of little actual significance. "In reality, this is a tiresome game that won’t end for a very long time," she wrote.
SPORTS FANS DON’T WANT TO DROP MALE OLYMPIC SPORTS, EITHER Viewers were asked to respond to the following question: Which is the best way for colleges to meet Title IX requirements for funding of womens’ sports? They were given three possible options. Of the 13,602 voters on the poll, 65.2% responded to "create alternate funding to support men’s programs; 24.6% responded to "reduce funding for football" and only 10.1% responded "eliminate men’s minor sports." Women sports leaders do not want men’s Olympic sports dropped. Sports fans do not want men’s Olympic sports dropped. Certainly, the college athletes and their mothers and fathers do not want men’s sports dropped. So why are colleges dropping men’s sports? It is the false interpretation of the Title IX law by the Department of Education that forces universities to drop male sports rather than find other ways to increase opportunities for females.
COLUMNIST GEORGE WILL IS ALSO AGAINST DROPPING MALE SPORTS "Title IX was enacted to expand opportunities for young women who had long been discriminated against. However, it has become an affirmative action program, employed not merely to open opportunities but to engineer statistical outcomes. As a result, in many instances it is having the perverse effect of destroying opportunities for men without expanding them for women." Will offers a thoughtful analysis of the problems with current Title IX interpretation and comments on the Supreme Court’s decision not to review the Brown case. In the conclusion of his column, Will calls for Congress to remedy this situation. "Congress should do what the Court declined to - direct that Title IX be applied in accordance with Court precedents concerning proofs of discrimination. But that would require Congress to actually write the law, and to annoy the most militant faction of feminists. Not likely."
WRESTLING COMMUNITY HAS UNIFIED TO PRESERVE OPPORTUNITIES Wrestlers, coaches, officials, parents and fans have banded together on the local and national levels to protect and expand opportunities for all athletes to participate in sports. The Joint Task Force to Protect Wrestling has been formed to mobilize the efforts of this army of citizens and to serve as its public voice. Under the leadership of USA Wrestling Executive Director Jim Scherr and National Wrestling Coaches Executive Director Bob Bubb, the wrestling community has already made an impact in the national debate. In addition, under the leadership of the wrestling community, a coalition of Olympic sports organizations and coaching groups is now being formed to expand the effort to an even larger scope. More information on this important effort will be provided at a later date. Produced by the Joint Task Force To Protect Wrestling, June 7, 1997.
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