Title+IX

By: Dana Sullivan & George Johnson
 * Title IX **** ﻿ **

** "No person in the U.S. shall, on the basis of sex be **** excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal aid." **

**__ What is Title IX? __**  Title IX governs the overall equity of treatment and opportunity in athletics while giving schools the ability to choose sports based on student body interest, geographic influence, budget restraints, and gender ratio. In other words, it is not a matter of women being able to participate in wrestling or that exactly the same amount of money is spent per women's and men's basketball. Instead, the focus is on the necessity for women to have equal opportunities as men on a whole, __ not on an individual basis. __  Title IX stems from the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and is included in the Education Amendments of 1972.

**__ 3 major components of Title IX __** // Financial Aid //

- The total amounts of athletics aid must be substantially proportionate to the ratio of male and female athletes.

// Accommodation of Interests and Abilities // __ 3 factors looked at consecutively: __ - Participation opportunities for male and female students are provided in numbers **substantially** **proportionate** to their respective enrollments. - Where the members of one sex have been and are underrepresented among intercollegiate athletes, whether a **history** and **continuing** **practice** **of program expansion** is demonstrably responsive to the developing interests and abilities of that sex. - Where the members of one sex are **underrepresented** among intercollegiate athletes and the institution cannot show a **continuing practice of program expansion**, whether it can be demonstrated that the interests and abilities of the members of that sex have been fully and effectively accommodated by the present program.

// Equivalent Benefits // o Equipment & Supplies: o Scheduling of Games & Practice Time: o Travel & Per Diem Allowances: o Opportunity to Receive Academic Tutoring o Opportunity to Receive Coaching, Assignment, & Compensation: o Locker Rooms, Practice, & Competitive Facilities o Medical & Training Facilities and Services: o Housing & Dining Facilities and Services: o Publicity: o Support Services: o Recruitment of Student-Athletes: Do women still need Title IX? All civil rights laws are statements of social justice values on the part of society. The Civil Rights Act and Title IX are important laws that should remain on the books to protect the citizenry from anyone discriminating on the basis of race, gender or disability. They are both a protection and important statements of the values of our American society. They should remain as such, always in force, in case anyone ever doubts the commitment of our country to such values.

**__ Why is it controversial? __**  __ Dividing People: __ Title IX has been a source of controversy in part due to claims that the OCR’s current interpretation of Title IX is no longer faithful to the anti-discrimination language and instead discriminates against men and has contributed to the reduction of programs for male athletes. Title IX puts an emphasis on “proportionality” based on the male-to-female ratio of the enrollment at the school, but fails to take into account each gender’s respective levels of interest in the participation of athletics. The OCR requires that a university much accommodate the athletic interests of the “underrepresented sex,” even though Title IX states that the interests and abilities of both sexes must be accommodated for. With a focus on improving female opportunities combined with a failure to counterbalance male athletic interests, a direct discrimination against men is present. Title IX ironically contradicts its initial purpose to stop discrimination, by actually discriminating against men. Another perspective that is not recognized is the idea of a sport’s specific revenue made. Male sports such as football and baseball create much higher revenue than female sports like softball. For this reason, if male athletics are denied funding for their sport, that program will fail to create revenue for the school which is a setback for the institution. **__ Supreme Court addressing the controversy __**
 * 1984 || Grove City vs. Bell Decision || Removed the applicability of Title IX in athletics programs by stating that only those programs or activities which receive direct Federal financial assistance be held under the umbrella of Title IX. ||


 * 1992 || Franklin vs. Gwinnett County Public Schools || February 2, 1992: Supreme Court rules unanimously that plaintiff’s filing Title IX lawsuits are entitled to receive punitive damages when intentional action to avoid Title IX compliance is established ||


 * 1993 || Favia v. Indiana University of Pennsylvania || In favor of women athletes, who assert that the college violates Title IX by failing to balance roster spots with the proportion of women in the student population. ||

**__ Loop holes around Title IX __** At the University of South Florida, more than half of the 71 women on the cross-country roster failed to run a race in 2009. Asked about it, a few laughed and said they did not know they were on the team. At Marshall University, the women’s tennis coach recently invited three freshmen onto the team even though he knew they were not good enough to practice against his scholarship athletes, let alone compete. They could come to practice whenever they liked, he told them, and would not have to travel with the team. At Cornell, only when the 34 fencers on the women’s team take off their protective masks at practice does it become clear that 15 of them are men. Texas A&M and Duke are among the elite women’s basketball teams that also take advantage of a federal loophole that allows them to report male practice players as female participants. **__ Sources __** [] []

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