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title ix

title ix Every Saturday, college campuses all across the nation are a buzz with activities. The football team prepares for this week’s game. The girl’s soccer team and volleyball teams play on Saturday and Sunday. The boy’s soccer team travels for an away game. Colleges and universities everywhere depend on various sports as a way of recruitment, entertainment, and physical activity for students. However, before 1972 women did not share the same opportunity to participate in intercollegiate sports. Up until 1972 there were no rules governing sexism in intercollegiate sports. Then, when President Nixon signed into law the Education Amendments Acts, part of the new law was called Title IX. This part of the new law abolished sexism in intercollegiate sports. Since its inception, Title IX has lead to giant steps in women’s sports. Understanding what Title IX is will help to understand how Title IX has helped bring on gains for all women. The Education Amendments Act of 1972 was signed into law on June 23, 1972 by President Richard Nixon (Wulf, 79). Part of this larger bill was an amendment called Title IX. This part of the bill called for an end to sexual bias in institutions that receive federal funds. Though Title IX did not have any specific correlation to intercollegiate sports, on the playing field is where it has been used most. In 1975, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare extended Title IX’s boundaries to athletics, saying recipients of federal funds must provide “equal athletic opportunity”(Guenin 35). Now extended to athletics, there are three major stipulations colleges must cover to satisfy the Title IX laws. These three stipulations are government set regulations. Congress never approved the policy’s interpretation, but they are what stand as Title IX today. Schools must meet one of the three following tests: “show proportionality in the number of male and female athletes, show a history of expansion to accommodate the female gender, or show that the interests and abilities of the female sex have been fully and effectively met.”(Leo 11). As confusing as it may sound, put into regular words the Title IX tests are quit simple. First, a school can have the same proportion of male and female athletes to students. For example, if a school has 100 male students, and there are 10 male athletes, that equals 10% of the male student body. To pass the test, a school with 50 female students must have 5 female athletes to equal the 10% of male athletes. The next two tests are self-explanatory, but the rulings are vague and hard to judge. For this reason many schools attempt to meet the proportion test. With all the tests and legal jargon, the bottom line with Title IX is that federal funded schools must have equal opportunities for female athletes. Since that June day back in 1972, women’s sports have grown by leaps and bounds. Now legally forced to end sexual bias, colleges started to fall in line. Schools began to increase the number of female teams they sponsor. Since 1972 the average number of female athletic teams per school has risen from 5.6 to 7.5 teams per school (Wulf 80). This increase in possible positions on athletic teams has lead to a greater number of possible scholarships. Young females now must not stay in their room and study to receive a college scholarship, but now can go out grab a ball and work on the game. With the huge increase in possible spots for women in athletics of course the number female athletes have risen. Back in 1972 there were just 31,000 women competing in intercollegiate athletics. That number has grown to 120,000 today (Wulf, 79). Now with more opportunities for athletic scholarships, young girls are setting down their dolls and picking up a ball. Scientists have proven that the effects of being physically active can only help the body and mind. The greatest effects of Title IX can be seen in younger females’ participation in sports. Since 1971, the number of girl athletes has risen more than two million females. These young girls go out get exercise, have a good time, meet new people all while possibly earning a free college education. The great increase in numbers has not just been with younger females, but also with post-collegiate female athletes. Within the past five years, U.S. females have made great accomplishments in Olympic soccer, softball, basketball, and swimming. Two female professional basketball leagues have started, the U. S. women won the World Cup of soccer, and talks of starting a professional female soccer league have begun. All of these latest advancements have given young girls female role models to emulate and possible futures in sports that are not over seas. All of these latest advancements and steps to increase female athletics can be traced back to one simple piece of legislation, Title IX. No one could have ever imagined the tremendous effects of this simple law passed twenty-seven years ago. With all the great steps Title IX has allowed for women to make in intercollegiate sports, these steps have come at a price. With new pressures on schools to adequately fund the proper number of female teams, money has to come from somewhere. Many times this money comes from the reduction of male teams. Lazerson states “Higher education is caught in a complex dilemma. It would like to spend less on athletics, but greater equity and expansion of women’s sports are likely to require increased expenditures.”(51). Many people see Title IX as a way to bring big-time college sports such as football and men’s basketball back down to earth. Colleges must cut costs of these two sports that make millions of dollars to pay for new female teams. The current interpretation of the law discriminates against male athletes (Business Week 112). The people arguing against Title IX are not totally against the law, but claim there is a place to draw the line. The example of taking the law to far happened recently at Brown University. Here, a potential student-athlete sued the school because it was attempting to drop women’s gymnastics, women’s volleyball, along with two male sports. She claimed that Brown’s attempt to due away with women’s gymnastics was against Title IX laws. This is where the argument begins. Brown University, at the time of the case offered 17 female sports, and 16 male sports (Wulf 80). Women made up 51% of the student body at Brown, but only 38% of varsity athletes. This discrepancy in numbers is against Title IX law. However, the school argued that due to the size of the football roster comprised of some eighty males skewed this ratio. They claimed that the ratio of varsity of athletes to student body was deeper than the surface. According to the university, possible spots on the female teams, from 65-80, went empty, while not a single one on the men’s teams was open. Brown claimed that females had the chance to equal the ratio, but failed to attempt to fill the teams (Guenin 37). Brown spent over one million dollars defending themselves in court. This money could have been used to possibly expand female’s athletics.. The school ended up losing the court battle almost four years later. Like all laws, how one interprets them determines their effectiveness. Since President Richard Nixon signed the Education Amendments Act of 1972, women’s sports have taken a giant leap. Part of this new law, Title IX, outlawed sexual discrimination in intercollegiate athletics. This gave women the necessary step to reach the same level as men. “Women don’t have to have 50% of the varsity positions to succeed in athletics. They need equal opportunity.”(Mahoney 78). Title IX started the process of ending sexual discrimination everywhere. Bibliography:

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