Fri 24 May, 2013
|
|
|
|
Title IX Under Attack: A Call to Action  x8
 |
| Planet Field Hockey |
June 12, 2002 
Women's Sports Foundation
> Page Views 9341
Synopsis:
On May 29, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a motion to dismiss on narrow procedural grounds a complaint filed in federal court against the U.S. Department of Education attacking the three-prong test developed for schools to determine their compliance with Title IX in women?s athletics programs. While the Women?s Sports Foundation is pleased that DOJ filed a motion to dismiss the case, the Foundation is disappointed that the motion does not defend the legality and validity of Title IX. This is particularly distressing in light of recent reports that the Bush Administration is not committed to Title IX policies, and is looking into re-evaluating and altering the law. Thus the danger to Title IX has never been greater.
Backgound:
In February 2002, the National Wrestling Coaches Association, College Gymnastics Association, and the U.S. Track Coaches Association, along with several other groups representing male athletes and alumni of wrestling programs at Bucknell, Marquette, and Yale, filed suit alleging that Title IX regulations and policies are unconstitutional. Plaintiffs claimed that Title IX regulations and policies are responsible for instituting quotas and causing many universities and colleges to drop wrestling from their athletic programs, which discriminates against men?s sports.
The Title IX complaint is part of a broader attack that has taken place over the past few years in an effort to weaken the law. Opponents of Title IX have voiced concern that women?s athletic participation has increased at the expense of men?s opportunities, yet statistics show that while men?s wrestling programs have been dropped, other men?s programs like soccer, baseball and basketball have been added to offset such losses. In fact, men?s participation rates in collegiate sports and the amount of money spent for men?s athletic teams continue to rise. In fact, despite the gains women have made under Title IX, resources for women?s sports have never caught up to resources for men?s sports. For example, women in Division I colleges represent more than half of the student body, yet receive only 41 percent of athletic scholarship dollars, 30 percent of recruiting dollars, and 33 percent of overall athletic budgets. Please refer to our "Title IX Quick Reference" below to get information on particiaption, expenditures, myths and frequently asked questions.
Our View:
The Foundation strongly supports Title IX and opposes any efforts to weaken its effectiveness, including undermining the three-prong test used to determine athletic participation compliance. The Foundation believes that this test is reasonable and fair. In fact, it has been upheld as constitutional by eight federal circuit courts. Over the past 30 years, Title IX has broken down barriers to educational opportunity, but full equity has not yet been achieved. The Foundation will continue to work with organizations including the National Women?s Law Center, the American Association for University Women, and the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education to protect and advance the progress Title IX has made over the last 30 years.
What You Can Do:
Contact members of Congress (202-224-3121) and urge them to tell the Administration not to tamper with Title IX. The objective of Title IX is to end gender discrimination in sports and education. Any action by the Administration to undermine Title IX will be contrary to fundamental principles supported by every previous Administration over the past 30 years.
Women's Sports Foundation Home Page
Your opinion counts.
Rate this article or enter your comments below.
|
Opinions expressed here do not represent the official views of PlanetFieldHockey.com or its staff. Comments will be removed if they are considered offensive or of a personal nature.
Comments on this article
|
Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
06-13-2002 9:47 am
|
Report this post
|
Title IX's unforseen consequences
The wrestling community doesn't exactly get it, even though there are, oddly enough, more women's varsity wrestling programs (scholastic and collegiate) in the United States than men's field hockey!
I believe that the corruption in men's basketball and football, plus the enormous sums of money that are taken away from the rest of the student population, should have already given rise to incredible outrage. The article below is just one example of how athletes at many universities are more important than the average student.
http://espn.go.com/magazine/vol5no12uab.html
I also suggest reading the book that goes along with this book review:
http://www.geocities.com/topofthecircle/gameoflife.html
I can only hope the republicans don't shut the gate like they did for affirmative action and school desegregation.
|
|
Adam Smith
06-14-2002 2:59 pm
|
Report this post
|
and the Invisible Hand
The Repubs want to allow "the market to decide."
There is one slight problem, once that the WUSA, WNBA, WPVL, WPSL, and the six (SIX!) football leagues that have sprung up since 1995. Who's got the sponsorship money???
Point: Title IX does not apply in the open marketplace. That's left to the Equal Rights Amendment. Oh, yeah, the Repubs torpedoed that, too.
|
|
Tom Harris
06-16-2002 12:03 am
|
Report this post
|
To be more specific to the focus of this web site, what amount of university funding goes ot women's hockey and what amount goes to men's hockey?
By the way, I do support equal support in all we do for all of us.
|
|
wells pile
06-17-2002 2:49 pm
|
Report this post
|
men's field hockey
I have both a daughter and a son actively engaged in field hockey. One shows great promise and earned a place on the national under 16 team. The liklihood of receiving any recruiting visits or scholarship money for that athletic ability is nil because he is male. As long as the NCAA effectively bans men from playing the sport there will be no incentive or encouragement for colleges to bother even looking at men's field hockey. It is curious that institutional bias and discrimination are not only tolerated but, in fact, are encouraged in the land of Title IX.
|
|
Peter Munsing
06-18-2002 8:24 pm
|
Report this post
|
Title IX use to support gender discrimination is wrong
I found it ironic to read about Title IX in terms of Field Hockey, because for my family it has been used as an excuse to exclude boys from playing field hockey. Title IX has had a commendable success in expanding womens access to sports. However, those who would use it to exclude boys and men from participation undercut both its basis--expanding equality of opportunity--and its support.
(Let me note that those who use it as a basis for excluding men include male athletic directors, so it should not be seen as a male vs female issue but perhaps a suggestion that like patriotism, exclusionary [ab]use of accesss legislation is the last refuge of a scoundrel).
The problem is, of course, the gorillas at the table--football and baseball. These combine with demographics to produce the problems noted above.
Demographically, at many high schools and colleges there are now more women than men. However, in terms of numbers and costs, the large platoon and large expense sports of football and baseball dominate and will continue to do so. Football, because it attracts crowds and in the case of colleges, alumni donations. It is, to its credit, self funded. Baseball, becasue it is "America's game" (sic), continues to be funded at both the high school level and college level well out of proportion to its popularity among students and its visiblity on campus.
As a result, while more money is spent on mens sports and more postions are given to mens sports if you include these sports, football is self funding and should be out of the picuture. Men are saddled then with baseball, and it is up to us to lobby to have it reduced to the level of fencing, ultimate frisbee, and other club sports. Let's face it, even those who love baseball will have to admit that on most campuses baseball games draw a smaller crowd than club rugby.
Insofar as bias in our sport, demand that USFHA use its bully pulpit to urge schools to allow boys on the field at high school. Experience with adult coed leagues, and with coed teenage play at Australian and European clubs and camps shows that it can be done, with no danger and more sticktime for all.
The fact that the USFHA tolerates the fact that young men who are willing to endure the jeers of peers (like, "Hey, you wear a dress to play, let's see if you wear a bra--faggot") to play are forced to crossdress, that it tolerates titration by shaming, suggests that Title IX is not being interpreted by some of its supporters for its vision but for the fiefdoms it can gain or consolidate.
Let equality of access for all be a unifying cry, not a petty playing one "lesser sport" off against another.
Have a great --and fun--summer of sticktime for all.
|
|
Funny U should say that ...
06-20-2002 10:44 am
|
Report this post
|
There is a very rich Princeton graduate and wrestling enthusiast who has made himself into an anti-Title IX Talibanist.
http://www.nj.com/sports/times/index.ssf?/base/sports-2/1024563616327038.xml
What he does not realize is that there is a revolution coming. There are now five colleges that sponsor women's wrestling. Girls' HS wrestling is done in California and elsewhere.
May he put that in his pipe and smoke it.
It will take people like Peter and others to push boys' field hockey -- hard. TITLE IX WORKS BOTH WAYS, PEOPLE.
I suggest New England people do it through their boys' ice hockey teams.
I suggest Californians do it through the USFHA Leagues and the California Cup.
I suggest people file Title IX complaints on behalf of boys playing field hockey who cannot get varsity time.
Let's do it before The Crash!
|
|
thompson twin
06-26-2002 12:09 pm
|
Report this post
|
In developing boys hockey and links to other sports for players, I have found that boys that play Lacrosse find it very easy to pick up the game and the transition is easy. I have found on the otherside, that boys ice hockey players have a much more difficult time.
just 2 cents.
|
|
Silverfox
06-26-2002 11:18 pm
|
Report this post
|
TitleIX
So I'm jumping in a bit late on this TitleIX business...but found some curious dialogue so I thought I'd throw in a few takes myself.
I recently gained access to a particular Big 10 University's Athletic Revenue/Expense reports for the '00, '01 calendar years. Not surprisingly, in total, Men's Athletics generated revenues exceeding 21.5 million. That's compared to the paltry sum of 500 thousand for Women's Athletics. Now its easy for football and basketball to claim responsibility for such a large discrepancy. However, when eliminating both sports' revenues from the equation, Men's Athletics' revenue still exceeded 900 thousand. Make of that what you will.
I find it rather amusing, but not suprising, the "oh poor me" attitudes swirling around TitleIX. Did we really think that a piece of legislation was going to solve the problems of sport and exist without consequence? Let's at least keep a modest perspective, and concede some gratitude for the opportunities it has afforded.
And...laughable as it may be, there are those among us that will alway choose to "bite the hand that feeds us." Football, basketball, baseball (you pick) will always carry on its' back a proportion of naysayers- those desparate souls battling to change a demograhic- too blind to see that the brand new turf their team plays on this fall, was bankrolled by a bunch a people who decided to show up for a few kick-offs on Saturday afternoon.
SF
|
|
|
|
 |
HOME | FEATURES | CLUBHOUSE | CAMPS | LINKS | ABOUT US | STORE | ADVERTISE
Use of this site is subject to certain Terms & Conditions.
|
|
|
