Title IX paper

Chris Gray
A&P Writing
Professor Kat
April 14, 2008

In 1972, a woman named Patsy T. Mink proposed a law that has influenced all athletic programs across the country. It is currently named the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, but is commonly known as Title IX. Title IX states, no person in the United States, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or subjected to any discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Under this law, discrimination was prohibited in educational activities, guidance services, athletics, admissions, housing, financial services and health programs. The majority of the focus goes to athletics. Title IX was created to ensure equal athletic opportunities and availability for both genders. This law has greatly benefited women’s athletics.
Before Title IX was passed, women’s sports were considered non existent. Back then, girls made up 1 percent of high school athletics and only made up 2 percent of college athletics. There was no money, locker rooms, or equipment for women in schools. Cheerleading was the only sport women participated in. Title IX has had its greatest impact on high schools and colleges around the country. Female high school athletics participation has increased 847 percent. Women’s collegiate teams are just as competitive and nationally publicized as the men‘s teams. Athletic programs have come a long way since the law, but there are still occurrences where Title IX is violated.
Equal opportunities among athletic programs are measured in three areas: participation numbers, treatment of athletes, and amount of athletic scholarships available. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights require all public schools and universities to meet one of the three test in order to show that they are abiding by Title IX requirements. Every school should have a Title IX Coordinator, who is sometimes also the athletic director. This person is responsible for enforcing and monitoring Title IX requirements. Although most schools are not in compliance with Title IX, no schools have actually lost federal money. In fact, more than 80 percent of schools and universities are not in compliance. Even though women make up 50 percent of the general population in schools, they only receive 39 percent of athletic program activities, which is a violation.
A recent punishment was given on March 30, 2007. South Carolina State Men’s Basketball Coach, Jamal Brown, was fired for violating obligations under Title IX. In 2006, a University of Kansas football player sued the university for not letting him play another year of college football. He took a year off of school after his daughter was born in order to take care of his responsibility. In collegiate sports, when a woman is pregnant and takes a year off for that reason, she is allowed another year of eligibility. The Kansas football player says that the year he took off should not count because of his gender fairness rights of Title IX. The NCAA did not agree and Erik Christianson, director for public and media relations for the NCAA said, “ The pregnancy exception is explicitly written for female students whose physical condition due to pregnancy prevents their participation in intercollegiate athletics, and therefore is not applicable in this case.”
Title IX has recently created controversy, with some groups claiming that it has caused some schools to spend less money on men's sports programs such as wrestling and swimming, or, in some cases, to end some traditional male sports programs all together. In the last decade, 20,000 male sport opportunities have been revoked due to the regulations of Title IX. For example, at Eastern Illinois a women’s crew team was created. There are no high school crew teams throughout the entire state of Illinois. The problem arises when money is used to fund a program that no one in the state seemed to have a general interest in. What if the amount of money spent on these female athletic programs exceed the talent level in which those who participate possess? Another truth is that men’s sports are responsible for the majority of the athletic income. For example, at Syracuse University, the men’s football and basketball team are responsible for 98% of the money funded to the athletic program. Because of Title IX, the school is required to split those figures with the female programs. The National Wrestling Coaches Association filed a lawsuit last year, protesting the significant amount of wrestling programs cut to comply with equality figures stated in Title IX. This, along with many other complaints, caused Education Secretary Roderick R. Paige to establish a commission to review the current Title IX practices and to possibly dilute the strength of this contradictory law. Considering the significance women's sports now hold, Title IX will give women aid they don't need at the expense of men. This has already happened on several college campuses, such as Providence College, which was forced to cut three men's sports programs to allow room in the budget for female programs that have drawn little interest.
Before Title IX was created, there was no such thing as a women’s team. Who would have thought thirty years ago, you could turn on a television and watch a WNBA game? Who thought we would ever see a woman dunk a basketball? This law has enabled women to excel far beyond expectations. Now, with a few violations, athletic programs across the country have benefited and many schools have diversified. Title IX has definitely served its purpose and will continue to do so, as females continue to take advantage of the opportunity provided.