College Teams Search for Loopholes in Title IX

April 26, 2011 12:00 pm     Posted in College, Reality  Jenn Inzetta g+ page


By Jenn Inzetta

I think we can all agree that college sports are a big deal. Whether it be March Madness or school rivalries or outstanding athletes, college sports are definitely worth commending. (And that includes women’s sports!) But even the best institutions have their issues and like many institutions before them some of the largest issues surrounding college sports right now are surrounding gender equality and Title IX.

Title IX is a federal gender equality law which seeks to ensure that equal opportunities exist for both men and women in college athletics. It requires that the number of sports available for men and women on a team are in proportion with the number of men and women on campus.

But in recent years, as the number of women attending college has begun to overtake the number of men  (women are now 56% of enrollment), the issues have begun to get more complicated. Unwilling to lose male athletes because of an increase in women attending college, athletic departments have begun searching for loopholes which would allow it to appear as though women and men are equally represented without actually increasing the number of female players. Whether that meant counting men who practiced with women as women, or putting women on the team, but never allowing them to play, schools like Duke, Marshall University, and Texas A & M have begun to get creative when creating the roster for their teams.

Some coaches say the “roster management” that comes with Title IX does more harm than good, eliminating men’s teams instead of creating women’s teams , but if Title IX were done away with the chance at equality would grow even slimmer.

It’s a complicated issue that  The New York Times does its best to unpack. Head on over there to take a look and then leave a comment and let us know what you think!

3 Comments on "College Teams Search for Loopholes in Title IX"

  1. missugaeq says:
    Tue, 26th Apr 201111:03 pm 

    as a female student athlete on an all-female team, titleix is something that does both harm and good. it gives so many of my female peers as well as myself the chance to compete at a collegiate level, and potentially to olympic trials if i am chosen. however, a lot of male student athletes, as well as the student body in general use titleix to devalue all female sports, saying they only exist because of titleix, and are not "real ncaa" sports. titleix is not a bad thing in itself, it just needs to be re-worked so that the female student athletes and the ncaa itself benefits as a whole. :)

  2. criolle johnny says:
    Wed, 27th Apr 201112:44 pm 

    How many of your readers think WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) players should get paid the same as NBA players?
    Was that even a question? I'm pretty sure I'd get close to 100% on a C/C poll.
    Now the harder question.
    How many of your readers can NAME three WNBA teams?
    I ask because, if you cannot name the teams, it seems to follow that you have never bought a ticket. You have probably never bought a jacket, a hat or any team gear. Sooooo, whereinthehell is the money coming from that the women players are going to get?

    Take that argument to the college level. How many of your readers go to football games? How many have ever attended a women's equestrian event, or an archery competition? Those are the sports your school has to sponsor to keep the football team that rebates millions of dollars to your university every year AFTER EXPENSES. Where do they get the money?

    Economics 101 … Opportunity Cost. If you do "A", you cannot do "B".

    I constantly hear some imbecile babbling about the coaches salary, "I wonder how many professors they could hire with that money?".
    Without that team, the school would be short a few million. I think a million a year pays for a couple of professors, (and a graduate assistant or two).

    Economics 101 If you stop bringing in money, you cannot buy stuff. Women's athletic programs cost money. The men's programs bring in money. Kill the men's programs and you cannot afford the women's programs … unless government forces you to do so. Until women start patronizing the women's sports, economic force or government brute force will have to rule. Title IX is Government overriding economics.

    Title IX; as "missugaeq" above, was kind enough to mention, IX needs to be reworked before it kills these golden geese.

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