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NEWS & LETTERS, August-September 2007Title IX still threatenedGeorge Bush and his right-wing friends have been fighting to undermine Title IX, the 35-year-old law banning race and sex discrimination at institutions receiving federal funds. In 2002, he created a Commission on Opportunities in Athletics to “study” Title IX. Women, however, are low on his opportunities list. Before Title IX, fewer than 32,000 women played college sports. Today that number has risen to 160,000—including a large number with world class status—because federal funding was there for scholarships, equipment, coaching and facilities. In high schools, girl's participation in sports increased from 300,000 to three million. Despite this history of women's unmet interest in engaging in sports, colleges are still required to “prove” they are meeting women’s interest or risk losing federal money. Consequently they have to judge what women's interest is; but male students never have to prove interest in sports to get funding. To destroy the effectiveness of Title IX, in 2005 the Department of Education said that universities can rely solely on student surveys—even through email—to gauge women students' interest in playing sports. Schools can treat a lack of response to an email survey—which are notorious for being ignored–as a lack of interest! In May, a heated debate ensued at a U.S. Commission on Civil Rights hearing looking into the legitimacy of this most controversial method. The NCAA had already unanimously passed a resolution advising schools not to use the survey method to prove compliance with Title IX. The Women’s Sports Foundation is calling for restricting email survey use. Allowing such surveys as compliance “creates a major loophole through which schools can evade their legal obligation,” said Jocelyn Smith, vice president of the National Women’s law Center. The Civil Rights Commission had 30 days from the hearing date to accept public comments before they decide whether to submit a report to the Department of Education. NCAA President Myles Brand cut to the heart of the matter: “We don’t need repeated efforts to undermine the law. Mandatory equal opportunity for male and female athletes and clearly stating that sex discrimination is wrong remains essential. Title IX has worked, continues to work, and indeed has more work to do.” —MJG |
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