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Title IX Ticker -- Schools hopeful regarding tuition-waivers funding

A Louisiana law that will provide as many as 50 tuition waivers per year for female student-athletes at each of the state's NCAA Division I institutions has many people singing its praises. However, funding remains a concern.

"I think it's fantastic," Tom Douple, athletics director at Southeastern Louisiana University, told Athletic Management magazine in its February/March 1996 issue. "We've been talking about it as athletics directors for a number of years, but I think it's great for the legislators to recognize the issue and take a proactive approach to it. Tuition at state schools is about $1,000 a semester, so we'd save about $100,000 per year. We'd be able to take that extra money and put it into other areas of the women's program.

"They're trying to work out the financing right now. We had a gubernatorial election this fall, so a different approach to funding may come from the state legislature in its spring session. Some (legislators) have suggested that the individual institutions come up with the money, but what all the athletics directors are hoping for is that the state will finance (the program). The economy is getting better, so if the legislature decides to dedicate funds to higher education, then there's a good chance of this scholarship funding happening."

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If opening arguments in Brown University's appeal of a federal court's March 1995 Title IX ruling are indicative, the case promises to be as passionate as last year's trial.

The chief judge of the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which is hearing the case, indicated "some basic problem" with the lower court ruling last year that found the institution in violation of the law, according to the Providence (Rhode Island) Journal-Bulletin.

The newspaper reported that Chief Judge Juan R. Torruella questioned the plaintiffs' attorneys about the relevant pool of students who might be interested and able to participate in athletics, suggesting that women, in general, are not qualified to participate in contact sports such as basketball, football, ice hockey, lacrosse and wrestling. In reality, however, women are participating routinely in all but two of those sports at the college level -- football and wrestling -- and a few institutions have implemented women's wrestling programs.

Another judge, Norman H. Stahl, presented a scenario for the attorneys on both sides: Brown's athletics program consists of one sport -- swimming. There are 30 spots for men and 30 for women on the team. Thirty men fill the roster; however, only 20 women signed up to compete. While women did not fill all of the participation opportunities available on that team, another 50 are interested in participating in something else. The question: Is Brown satisfying Title IX?

Walter B. Connolly Jr., an attorney representing Brown, answered yes, citing the unused participation opportunities. At Brown, Connolly said, women quit athletics teams at a rate triple that of men.

"In spite of that, Brown has provided opportunities in excess of interest," Connolly said.

Lynette Labinger, representing the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, told Judge Stahl that more information about recruiting and coaching would be necessary to answer the question. Stahl queried further, "Assuming that 20 people want to have bloodshot eyes and they happen to be women. Is Brown in violation?"

"In the real world, yes," Labinger said. "People don't fall out of trees. They are recruited."

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Tufts University sponsored a forum on career choices for women in athletics March 9, in which Tufts alumnae working in athletics addressed 200 students, fellow alums and others who are interested in sports-related careers.

Among the panelists for the winter forum titled "Life Beyond Tufts: Women In Sports" were Jan A. Brown, an NCAA enforcement representative; Lisa Jax, a senior associate producer at NBC Sports; and Moira Connor Alvarado, formerly a sports coordinator for the 1995 Special Olympics World Summer Games.

"This is a phenomenal group of women who have so much to give and offer," said Cecelia Paglia, a Tufts graduate who will work in venue management at this summer's Olympic Games in Atlanta. "For a woman to get a job in sports is a very different road than for a man. It's not easier or harder, it's different. Our goal was to lend our experiences."

Said Brown, "I thought the forum was a great opportunity for women at Tufts to realize what's available and how they can use their degrees in ways they never thought possible."

"All of the panelists were very encouraging," said Sonia Raman, a current student who has some interest in a coaching profession. "There was a lot of good advice for those of us who aren't yet sure what we're going to do."

Rocco J. Carzo, athletics director at Tufts, said that organizing an event to recognize women in athletics was important.

"Recognition of the integral role of women's sports on this campus was long overdue," he said. "One of the highlights for me was the enjoyment the panelists got out of it. They were thrilled to be together, giving something back to their alma mater."

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U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minnesota, says he is troubled by the trend of colleges discontinuing men's nonrevenue sports to achieve gender equity. But he told the head of the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) that he backs the agency on its position that institutions need not take that course of action to achieve gender equality.

In a February 29 letter to Norma V. Cantu, U.S. assistant secretary for civil rights, Wellstone wrote:

"...I am deeply concerned for the survival of wrestling, a sport which I have stated on many occasions 'saved my life.' Wrestling and other so-called 'minor' men's sports have been eliminated from educational institutions at an alarming rate over the past few years.

"...[W]hile it pains me to see wrestling, a sport I love so much, facing severe cutbacks, I am both frustrated and angry that so many people blame Title IX for wrestling's demise. There are alternative solutions which both fulfill the original intent of Title IX and maintain the viability of 'minor' sports.

"Some people are under the impression that Title IX requires institutions to eliminate men's teams to meet a proportionality test. But you have made it clear in your office's clarification and at our recent meetings that proportionality is only one method of passing the [compliance test].... Too often, decision-makers in colleges and universities lose sight of the other two alternative options for compliance with Title IX: a good-faith expansion of athletics opportunities through a response to developing interests of the underrepresented sex, or fully and effectively accommodating the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex."

Wellstone continued: "Before eliminating an entire sport, I strongly believe that institutions should be accountable for their decisions. Institutions should publicly divulge why and how they have reached decisions to eliminate entire sports, rather than exploring an alternative means of compliance.

"Certainly institutions of higher learning are susceptible to the same tough budgetary decisions most other institutions in government and the private sector must face. Too often, however, decisions to cut entire sports are presented as fait accompli. I think we must challenge institutions to provide reasons for their decisions, to be accountable for choosing paths of least resistance."

Cantu responded to Wellstone in writing, saying that while "OCR cannot deprive a college or university of the discretion to select that option, OCR staff will continue to encourage consideration of alternatives to the elimination or capping of sports as a method for achieving compliance with Title IX."

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Former San Diego State University women's volleyball coach Myles Gabel filed suit April 2 against the institution and individuals involved in the termination of his employment last year.

San Diego State suspended Gabel April 4, 1995, and did not renew his contract, alleging unprofessional conduct and a violation of the school's sexual-harassment policy, according to Casey, Gerry, Reed and Schenk, the law firm representing Gabel.

The suit alleges that San Diego State failed to properly investigate the allegations made against Gabel, that it refused to disclose to Gabel what the allegations were, that it refused to provide a hearing and that it denied Gabel any meaningful opportunities to respond to the charges. It alleges further that Gabel was discriminated against because he is male.

In three seasons, he led San Diego State to a 67-30 record, including an appearance in the 1994 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship.

-- Compiled by Ronald D. Mott

Title IX Ticker is a monthly feature in The NCAA News. News and information regarding Title IX and gender-equity issues can be sent to The NCAA News, Attn.: Title IX Ticker, 6201 College Boulevard, Overland Park, Kansas 66211-2422.