Last Wednesday, a national panel released its recommended changes to Title IX, the federal law that requires equal opportunities and funding for male and female athletes at institutions receiving federal aid.
Since it was implemented in 1972, Title IX has been used primarily to assure equal funding for male and female collegiate athletics. In many cases, however, universities have taken the law on their own shoulders and have been executing the law as they feel best.
The national panel in charge of Title IX outlined changes in front of education secretary Rod Paige, who will decide which measures to take. The proposed changes include several options that some people feel will lead to a reversal in women’s civil rights.
One of these options would allow the secretary of education more leeway in deciding to relax restrictions on how schools comply with Title IX. Another option would create a greater ability for schools to accept private donations to prevent cutting programs.
Twelve members of the 14-member panel concurred with the report, while the dissenting two members offered their own minority report, featuring alternative recommendations. This report, written by soccer player Julie Foudy and former Olympic swimmer Donna de Varona, indicates that if these measures were passed, it would be a backwards movement for women’s athletics.
“Women and girls who play sports — and the fathers and brothers who support them — deserve no less,” reads the minority report.
Ted Leland, athletic director at Stanford University and the chairman of the panel, tried to prevent the conflicting reports from going public by negotiating with Foudy and de Varona, but things didn’t work out the way he hoped. Instead, the minority report has led to a debate involving how Title IX should be enforced on campuses across the country.
University of Wisconsin Vice Chancellor Bernice Durand feels that the law itself is solid, but there is a need for more flexibility in the enforcement of it.
“I hope they’re going to keep it how it has been, except change the ways you can satisfy it,” Durand said. “There is one way [to satisfy Title IX], others are not feasible.”
UW students also have mixed reactions to the possible Title IX changes.
UW junior Ian Schoone feels that gender equality is important, but some changes may need to be made.
“I think [Title IX] is a good way to achieve equality, but there are some drawbacks. We used to have baseball, but this isn’t possible because of lost funding,” Schoone said.
UW freshman Colleen Long also believes that equality is very important and that “talent and effort are not based on gender.”
A major part of the controversy around Title IX is the funding that some sports receive.
Paige is currently looking over the reports and will be making an announcement regarding his findings.