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OCR, hypothetical situations help illuminate Title IX

Beth Downs, civil rights investigator in the Office for Civil Rights, presented five hypothetical situations during a question-and-answer session at an NCAA-sponsored Title IX seminar recently in Boston.

Each of the five situations and Downs' responses to questions about how Title IX compliance is affected by the situation will be highlighted monthly in the Title IX Ticker.

The first hypothetical situation involves Institution A, which had an enrollment of 52 percent males and 48 percent females and athletics participation of 66 percent male and 34 percent female. Sports sponsored by the institution for males are football, basketball, baseball, wrestling, indoor and outdoor track, cross country, and soccer. For females, the options are soccer, softball, basketball, indoor and outdoor track, cross country, and volleyball.

The last varsity team was formed for males in 1991, and for females, teams were formed in 1987, 1991 and 1993. There are no female club teams at the institution.

One question concerned a situation in which the institution's baseball team had made trips during spring break for each of the last 10 years. The trips were not funded through the athletics department budget but by team members through various fund-raisers. The women's softball team has never made a spring trip nor has it ever attempted to raise the funds. The baseball fund-raiser is overseen by the full-time coach and involves much supervision and coaching involvement. The softball coach serves part time.

What is the institution's obligation, if any, to the softball team with regard to spring trips?

The institution is responsible for providing the softball team with a spring trip, Downs said, even though the baseball team's trip is financed through fund-raisers that the team conducts. It is the institution's responsibility to provide the same benefits, regardless of the source of the funds, to both men's and women's teams, she said.

A seminar participant questioned what the institution's obligation would be if the men's coach is a "hustler" when it comes to raising funds, helping to raise a couple of thousand dollars for a spring trip, and the women's coach doesn't want to participate in fund-raising.

Downs said the institution still would be obligated to provide the women's team with a spring trip -- regardless of the source of the funds for the baseball trip -- to be in compliance.

If the baseball team sponsors clinics for youth and raises $2,000 with the help of its part-time baseball coach, and the women's full-time softball coach chooses not to sponsor clinics to raise funds, what would be the institution's responsibility?

Downs reiterated that the source of funds for the men's trip does not matter; the institution still is obligated to provide funds for a women's trip. In an evaluation, OCR could look at the women's coach and consider other responsibilities she might have that could keep her from participating in fund-raising.

Downs suggested that the institution might want to consider requiring the women's coach to participate in fund-raising as part of her job description.

"If no other women's team is getting that benefit (the spring trips), the institution would have to find the funds for the women's trip," Downs said.

One seminar participant suggested that the men's and women's teams raise funds together and split the proceeds.

Downs said that fund-raising is not something OCR requires through its regulations.

"But it is something that is very important to providing services and benefits and it is something schools should look at. We see programs where men have their own fund-raising and women don't. Fund-raising is a place to start in looking for additional resources to provide some of these gender-equity-type benefits," she said.

One participant questioned what an institution can do when a men's team can schedule a game on a spring trip for a substantial guarantee but the same option is not available to a women's team.

Downs reiterated that it is the institution's responsibility to provide a similar benefit to the women's team, regardless of why funds are available for the men's team but not for the women's team.

A seminar participant suggested that in a situation involving a guarantee for the men's team, the funds from the guarantee could go into the athletics department's fund and then be reallocated equitably between men's and women's programs.

In another hypothetical situation at the same institution, the men's basketball team asks for improvements to its locker room. The institution solicits funds from alumni donations and the locker room is painted, carpet is installed and stools are purchased. Is the school obligated to provide a similar locker room for the women's basketball team?

"It is the institution's responsibility to provide similar locker rooms if another women's team is not receiving an equivalent locker room," Downs said.

In another situation, the institution has problems scheduling practice times in its facilities for wrestling, men's basketball and women's basketball. Because men's and women's basketball have more contests, they are given priority at the school's only indoor competition facility for games and pregame shoot-arounds.

Consequently, the wrestling team usually practices in an alternate facility and uses the competitive facility only for contests and occasional practices.

Is there an obligation to provide all sports equal access to competition facilities for both practices and contests?

Downs said an institution is not obligated to provide the same resources to all sports. The obligation is to provide similar benefits to both sexes, she said, but not to provide the same treatment to different sports.

"Men's and women's basketball teams are treated the same and that's what Title IX looks at. You can give different sports different treatment," she said.

A situation concerning athletics participation opportunities involves a men's lacrosse club team to which the institution has provided vans for travel when available. The club team is financed through fund-raising and student government allocations but receives no athletics department funds. The team is allowed to use athletics facilities when no conflicts exist.

Assuming that this institution complies with prongs two and three of the three-part analysis for compliance with Title IX, is this institution in violation of Title IX if it converts men's lacrosse to a varsity sport, thereby increasing the disparity between the numbers of male and female athletes?

Institutions have to be careful in looking at prong two and prong three when assessing the interest of female athletes, Downs said.

"I think there would have to be an assessment (under prong one) even though there is not presently a women's club lacrosse team," she said. "The student body doesn't have the same interests from year to year and the obligation of the regulation is to constantly assess or continually assess what the interest of your student body is. It is a continual responsibility."

Is it always necessary to take a survey before implementing a sport?

Downs said the institution can conduct any sort of assessment, not necessarily a survey.

One participant in the seminar said his school is adding women's lacrosse because the school already has a coach for the existing men's lacrosse team and because lacrosse requires a fairly large squad; thus, the institution can increase substantially the number of women athletes to address disparities.

The seminar participant said students were not surveyed first to see if there was interest in women's lacrosse.

Downs said the institution would not have to do the survey before adding women's lacrosse. "There is a big difference between what the law requires and what is a good thing to do."

* * *

The Sports Law and Policy Project, a research clearinghouse at the University of Central Florida, is looking for financial support and sponsorship to fund its creation of a major resource book focusing on postcollegiate employment opportunities in athletics for female student-athletes.

"This is a wonderful project that has incredible potential," said Linda Calvert Hanson, director of the Sports Law and Policy Project and a professor at Central Florida. "In light of Title IX and gender-equity efforts, substantial resources are being funneled into women's athletics programs at the collegiate level, giving women a new place in sports.

"We have so many young women coming out of college who want to enter professional athletics after their career as NCAA student-athletes. This resource book will provide those student-athletes with an invaluable tool for finding those career opportunities. Now we need a sponsor to help us fund this exciting project."

The Sports Law and Policy Project provides individualized, custom-tailored research support in sports law and sports management and provides information for general use in intercollegiate and professional athletics.

"If our girls are not given a tool by which to channel their motivation, our efforts in intercollegiate athletics at getting women involved in athletics will have gone for naught," Calvert Hanson said.

The Sports Law and Policy Project can be contacted by calling Calvert Hanson at 407/823-6445 or Ted Curtis, associate project director, at 407/989-8763.

--Compiled by Sally Huggins

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.