The NCAA News - News Features

Bowl money to assist school with Title IX compliance

West Virginia University's revenues from its participation in the Gator Bowl January 1 will be kept in the athletics department to help finance requirements of Title IX and to bolster the department's reserves.

Scott Kelley, West Virginia vice-president for administration and finance, told the Charleston Gazette that the school decided to keep the moneys in the athletics department rather than share it with academic departments as in the past, because of an operating loss last year.

The athletics department expects to receive about $400,000 for the team's appearance against the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Kelley said the decision is based mostly on additional spending expected to bring the university into compliance with Title IX. West Virginia added women's soccer, its 20th varsity sport, this year and plans to add another sport, he said.

West Virginia state law allows the athletics department to share up to one-fourth of bowl receipts with academic programs but does not require it to share the proceeds.

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While Brown University has not yet made a decision on whether to appeal the recent decision in the Title IX discrimination case against it to the U.S. Supreme Court, parties familiar with the case have urged universities to bring their programs into compliance.

Arthur H. Bryant, executive director for Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, which represented the nine women who sued Brown in April 1992, said universities that eliminate a women's sport in which there is interest, ability and competition are inviting a lawsuit.

"And they would be fairly certain to lose that lawsuit," he said.

Regardless of whether Brown ultimately appeals to the Supreme Court, universities need to move ahead with bringing their programs into compliance with the guidelines of the Education Amendment of 1972 (more commonly known as Title IX), Bryant said.

"The message of the First Circuit ruling is loud and clear," he said. "Schools should get their programs into compliance."

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston affirmed November 21 the U.S. District Court decision that Brown discriminated against women in demoting two women's sports. Brown dropped women's gymnastics and volleyball from university-funded status to donor-funded varsity status in May 1992.

Mark Nickel, a spokesman for Brown and director of the Brown News Bureau, said a decision whether to appeal may be made in early January.

Brown let pass the 14-day window to petition the First Circuit to reconsider its ruling. The window for appealing to the Supreme Court is 90 days and will expire in February.

Deborah L. Brake, senior counsel at the National Women's Law Center, said universities that have resisted Title IX -- and hoped that a decision in the Brown case would keep them from having to comply -- now should bring their programs into compliance and not await further court developments.

"There are no excuses anymore," said Brake, who argued the case before the appeals court.

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The second edition of "Achieving Gender Equity, A Basic Guide to Title IX and Gender Equity in Athletics for Colleges and Universities" is available now from the NCAA to assist schools in their Title IX compliance efforts.

"Achieving gender equity is an ongoing and evolving process that must occur according to the particular needs of each member institution in light of the needs of the female student-athlete," according to the guide.

It includes Title IX basics, current case law applicability (including the Brown appeals court decision), information about emerging sports and promotional ideas, athletics certification operating principles related to gender issues, and a resource list.

-- 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.