Title IX commission proposes quotas

A commission established by the US Education Department, designed to assess the law banning sex discrimination in collegiate sports, reached few conclusions when it voted several times on the issue last Thursday.

The most important of the votes, which hoped to determine how the proportionality of men and women's sports should be divided, was inconclusive.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 forbids sex discrimination at institutions that receive federal funds. While Title IX impacts all colleges, it is specifically geared to Div. I, where there are more athletes, more funding for programs, and money for scholarships.

Over the years, Tufts, a Div. III school, has made decisions both to increase the number of women's teams and keep the number of men participating steady. Fencing and lightweight crew were added as women's sports.

Women, both nationally and at Tufts, represent 55 percent of the collegiate student body _ therefore, under Title IX, their sports programs should receive more funding than men's sports. The debate surrounding Title IX centers around whether women's sports can be promoted without the exclusion of men who want to play too.

"Until very recently we have dealt with Title IX by adding opportunities for women," Director of Athletics Bill Gehling said. "Most recently we have been limiting opportunities for men, and that has been frustrating."

The key proposal before the commission _ which includes athletics administrators, professors, a college president, and advocates for women's sports _ was to allow a 50-50 split between men and women's sports, with a two to three percentage point swing. This would not force men's teams to cut spots as more women enrolled, the main problem that Tufts faces. When the time came to vote on the proposal, seven commission members supported it, while seven did not.

"I don't see proportionality as a fair test," Gehling said. "I'm not sure what the solution is, but I want to see more flexibility in interpretation."

One suggestion proposed by many different sources both in and outside of the commission was to administer a survey of both male and female athletes and determine what percentage of women actually want to play sports. This method raises the question of whether students will be interested in a playing a sport before their university offers it.

Assistant Athletic Director Branwen Smith-King criticized the survey plan. "If you don't have proportionality, I think some folks would use that as an excuse," King said. "Universities might say, 'Oh there's no interest in field hockey, we aren't going to do it.' If you don't give the opportunity, you're never going to know if that is true."

Title IX has unquestionably improved female representation in college sports. Before 1972, fewer than 30,000 women participated in intercollegiate sports sanctioned by the NCAA; by 2000, nearly 151,000 did. At the high school level, the number increased from 294,000 to 2.8 million.

Although many universities fall under Title IX, the commission was made up to deal with issues on a Div. I level. There were no Div. III representatives, although there are obvious differences between the two divisions.

"The philosophy of Div. III is inclusion," Assistant Athletic Director and baseball coach John Casey said. "This is much different than Div. I. We're not generating $20 million during games."

Another difference between divisions lies in the way teams are made up. In Div. I, the majority of spots are determined through scholarships, and walk-ons play a minor role. At Tufts, on the other hand, there are no athletic scholarships, and walk-on players fill almost all spots.

The commission concluded that walk-ons should not be counted in the Title IX total. At Tufts, it does not make sense to count the numbers that way. "Does that mean at Tufts that we don't count anybody?" Gehling said. "Our kids play because they like to play."

To comply with Title IX, universities must do one of three things: show that the percentage of men and women participating in sports approximately matches the overall percentage enrolled, show a history and continuing practice of adding women's sports, and meeting athletic abilities and interests of women on campus. Most schools use proportionality to judge whether they comply, because it is the easiest measure to determine.

The National Wrestling Coaches Association sued the Education Department last year, claiming that 355 men's wrestling teams, with a total of 22,000 spots, have been eliminated during the past decade to make way for women's teams. However, it is not clear how many of those teams were cut because of a lack of interest. Tufts has not had a wrestling team since the 1970s.

The commission's recommendations are non-binding. At the end of February, Education Secretary Rod Paige will receive a written report, and then decide how to proceed. President Bush has previously campaigned against a strict quota or proportionality system.

Whatever the final ruling on Title IX is, women's sports will continue to be supported at Tufts.

"They could get rid of Title IX today and I don't think that change would do anything," Gehling said. We plan on treating men and women equally."