Title IX

TASK FORCE MEDIA NOTES
VOL. 1, NO. 2 (July 30, 1997)
This is part of a series of regular reports to update, inform, educate and stimulate public discussion

WOMEN’S SPORTS FOUNDATION PLAYS FAST AND LOOSE WITH THE FACTS
The Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) published its Gender Equity Report Card on June 23, 1997. The report was authored by the project director Don Sabo, Ph.D., a professor of sociology at D’Youville College.

According to the Executive Summary of this report, "the facts do not support the claim that the increasing opportunities for women’s sports in the last decade have lowered the number of men’s sports programs." The study sites the period between 1978 and 1996 as the measuring tool. The report actually claims that men’s sports programs showed an increase on the college level.

This claim by the Women’s Sports Foundation is just not true. Their flawed study may show this, but the real statistics tell a much different story. The major college organizations report a loss of men’s sports opportunity between 1978 and 1996. With high school participation increasing, this loss of opportunity is not a lack of interest.

COLLEGE STATISTICS SAY THAT MEN’S SPORTS HAVE DECLINED
Rather than rely on the information from a study conducted by a group with a vested interest in the results, it is best to look at the organizations that actually conduct college athletics. The Joint Task Force reviewed statistics from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the National Association of Inter-collegiate Athletics (NAIA), the two largest college sports organizations.

THE NCAA STATISTICS SAY THAT MEN’S SPORTS HAVE DECLINED SINCE 1978
To understand the NCAA statistics, you have to know that hundreds of universities joined the NCAA between 1978 and 1996, most which switched from other divisions. With an increase in the raw numbers, the only statistic of merit is the average number of teams and athletes on each campus, which shows a distinct drop in men’s sports programs.

In 1978, there were 728 NCAA institutions, which sponsored 6,466 men’s teams. This was an average of 8.9 men’s teams per institution.

In 1996, there were 998 active and provisional NCAA institutions, which sponsored 7,675 men’s teams. This was an average of 7.6 men’s teams per institution, a drop of 1.3 men’s teams on every NCAA campus.

THE NAIA STATISTICS SAY THAT MEN’S SPORTS HAVE DECLINED SINCE 1978
To understand the NAIA statistics, you have to know that hundreds of universities left the NAIA between 1978 and 1996. The raw numbers show a major decline. In addition, when you look at the average on each campus, there is also a decline.

In 1978, there were 509 NAIA institutions, which sponsored 3,118 men’s teams. This is an average of 6.1 teams per institution.

In 1996, there were 350 NAIA institutions, which sponsored 1,705 men’s teams. This is an average of 4.9 teams each, a drop of 1.2 men’s teams on every NAIA campus.

The NAIA also provided statistics on number of participants in 1978, which the NCAA did not have available. In 1978, there were 66,627 men athletes on the 509 NAIA campuses, an average of 130 men athletes per institution. In 1996, there were 36,069 men athletes on the 350 NAIA campuses, an average of 103 athletes per institution. This is a drop of 27 male athletes on every NAIA campus. Again, this indicates a loss of opportunities, not a loss of interest.

LIES, DAMN LIES, AND STATISTICS
The Women’s Sports Foundation’s report bases its study on men’s programs on information from an eight-page questionnaire mailed to 902 presidents of colleges and universities. The method that was used to evaluate men’s trends was by asking respondents to list men’s and women’s programs that were eliminated or added between 1978 and 1996.

This methodology is flawed. Asking a university to document information from almost 20 years ago, when a large percentage of those involved in 1978 no longer work there, could lead to inexact results. If there were errors or omissions in the information provided to the WSF at some of the institutions, then the final results would be inaccurate.

The WSF study determined that men’s sports gained from 1978-96, based upon the comparison between net gains and net losses reported by the colleges. The study determined that there were 74 more men’s teams in the nation during the entire 18-year period. If the individual reports sent in to the WSF were even slightly off, then these supposed gains might actually be losses. Certainly, there was was not a large enough gain to make sweeping claims about trends in men’s athletics.

The scary part is that America’s journalists, politicians and college administrators believe this to be true. National columnist Ellen Goodman cited this information in a recent column on Title IX, which was published all over the United States.

All the WSF had to do was review the existing information from the NCAA and the NAIA, and they could quickly determine that men’s sports opportunities have declined.

NOBODY BLAMES WOMEN ATHLETES. THE FAULT IS WITH PROPORTIONALITY
The Joint Task Force to Protect Wrestling does not blame women athletes for the loss of teams and opportunities for men. The intent of Title IX in college sports is to increase opportunities for women, which is happening everywhere. Everybody supports the increase in women’s sports opportunities.

The decisions to drop men’s sports opportunities are made by university administrators who are attempting to comply with the law, often under pressure from the Office of Civil Rights. Men’s sports opportunities are eliminated when colleges are forced to use proportionality as the method to comply with the law. Proportionality is an artificial gender quota, which, when put into practice, is used to eliminate men’s sports.

Eliminating men’s opportunities to reach a 50-50 gender quota (which is what proportionality is), does not help women, and certainly hurts men. Nobody wins with proportionality quotas.

BE HONEST. TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT TITLE IX. MEN’S SPORTS HAVE BEEN DEVASTATED.
Donna A. Lopiano, the Executive Director of the Women’s Sports Foundation, said the following in a May 1997 issue of the NCAA News: "There has been an indiscriminate slashing of men’s sports that is unconscionable, and that has to be stopped," said Lopiano. Donna Lopiano is telling the truth in this interview.

The WSF Gender Equity Report Card, published by the organization that Lopiano runs, claims that men’s sports have gained from 1978-1996. The real statistics show that this is just not the case. However, this misinformation is being spread across the nation, even today. Stop confusing the issue. Admit that men have suffered at the hands of proportionality, and work to find a way to help women athletes without harming men athletes.

Produced by the Joint Task Force to Protect Wrestling, 7/30/97

Comments & Questions -- info@ncmat.com