Women’s athletics remains low priority despite Title IX

Monday, September 28, 1998

Women’s athletics remains low priority despite Title IX

PROGRAMS: Men’s sports still receive more money, attention in
spite of law

By Mike Fish

Cox News Service

ATLANTA — Female college students have plenty of sports to play
and $180 million a year in scholarships to split. Crowds are
increasing rapidly, and the women’s basketball National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA) Final Four sells out.

But don’t be fooled, say some dissatisfied movers and shakers in
women’s sports. They foresee more hurdles to clear and court
battles to fight.

Between 80 and 90 percent of universities remain in violation of
Title IX, the federal legislation that outlaws gender
discrimination in educational institutions that receive federal
funds, according to Donna Lopiano, executive director of the
Women’s Sports Foundation.

The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights,
responsible for enforcing the law, has not followed up on schools
found in non-compliance, Lopiano said, and instead has let them off
the hook, pending correction of the problems.

Since 1993, at the urging of advocates upset with the slow pace,
the NCAA has required each Division I school to show progress in
gender equity in order to gain certification. But the NCAA has
never rejected a school’s certification, and not all of the 305
Division I institutions have gone through the process.

The Office of Civil Rights claims that it doesn’t have enough
money or time to track violations. So the last resort has been
lawsuits against schools in violation.

Nancy Hogshead, a Jacksonville, Fla., attorney who specializes
in Title IX cases, says she is preparing lawsuits involving four
schools that she would not identify. The cases involve either
coaches or athletes, said Hogshead, a former Olympic gold-medal
swimmer.

Brown University is just now settling a six-year-old federal
lawsuit that led to sweeping changes in the way anti-discrimination
laws are applied in college athletics. The suit went to the U.S.
Supreme Court after Brown tried to eliminate its women’s volleyball
and gymnastics teams. As a result, school officials will seek to
have the percentage of women on athletic teams reflect the student
body.

But there is still concern that some female coaches who speak
out against perceived inequities risk losing their jobs. Lawyer
Kristin Galles, who specializes in gender-equity cases, said 15
coaches fired since the end of last school year have contacted her
to discuss possible legal action.

"They start pushing for money, more scholarships, field
maintenance – things men’s programs already have -and they run into
trouble," Galles said. "I have some cases where the female coach
gets too pushy on gender equity, and (school officials) start
saying stuff like, ‘Well, they must be gay.’"

The conflict is even reaching high schools.

The National Women’s Law Center filed suit this summer in U.S.
District Court, alleging discrimination by members of the Michigan
State High School Athletic Association. Schools were cited for,
among other things, requiring girls to play their games during
non-traditional and shortened seasons, at inconvenient times and in
inferior facilities.

"While a lot of attention has focused on the college level, and
deservedly so, it’s important to remember that Title IX also
applies to high school and below," said Marcia Greenberger,
co-president of the National Women’s Law Center. "There are still
lots of problems that young girls are facing … We’ve seen the
same problems with facilities and support and practice times."

In the quarter-century since President Nixon signed the landmark
Title IX legislation, the disparity in the playing fields has
lessened, although the advantage still slants in the favor of men’s
programs, according to the most recent NCAA Gender-Equity Study in
1997. Among its findings were that:

* Seventy-five percent of funds directed to athletic programs
goes into men’s sports.

* The ratio of those operating expenses has not budged, although
the percentage of women in organized sports has jumped from 31 to
37 percent in the last five years.

* Women, who comprise 53 percent of enrollment, pocket 38
percent of scholarship dollars.

* Women receive 27 percent of the money spent to recruit new
athletes.

* Coaches of women’s sports earn less than half the pay of the
men’s team coaches.

"It’s common sense that you would expect operating budgets to be
relatively similar in the same sports," Lopiano said. "So with two
basketball teams, the expenses should be pretty much the same. I
don’t see where men’s basketball uniforms cost any more or less
than women’s uniforms."

A school generally has to pass a three-part test to comply with
Title IX:

* Female athletes should receive the same treatment afforded
men, including quality of facilities, competition schedules and
budgets.

* Scholarships should be awarded to women based on the
percentage of female athletes in the total program.

* The participation opportunities a school affords female
athletes should be equal to men’s. This factor has been the most
difficult to assess.

According to the National Women’s Law Center, college athletics
deserve a grade of C on gender equity. "Some progress … some
barriers addressed, but more improvement necessary," it
concluded.

"We have a lot of catching up to do," said tennis legend Billie
Jean King, founder of the Women’s Sports Foundation. "It’s
ridiculous. It’s taxpayer dollars … I suspect it would take the
threat of fines from the federal government. You need to hurt them
where it hurts the most, and that is money."

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