National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

February 24, 1997

Colgate settles suit involving women's hockey status

A seven-year legal battle between Colgate University and its women's ice hockey students has ended with an agreement by the university to elevate the women's ice hockey team to varsity status.

The settlement, reached just three weeks before the case was to go to trial a second time, means the ice hockey team will compete on the varsity level beginning this fall.

The Colgate women's ice hockey club team had been asking for varsity status since 1979. A group of female student-athletes filed suit against the university in 1990, alleging violations under Title IX.

The initial case was decided in the women's favor in 1992. However, the verdict was reversed in 1993 on appeal because by then all of the original plaintiffs had graduated.

In the original case, attorneys for the university argued that the university should not have to field a team because the ability of the players did not justify varsity status and there was no NCAA championship; because of lack of other varsity competition and lack of student interest; and because of the financial burden.

Title IX policy interpretation provides that institutions are not required to upgrade teams to varsity status if there is not a reasonable expectation that intercollegiate competition in the sport will be available within the institution's normal competitive regions.

The court acknowledged the financial burden of elevating a sport to varsity status but emphasized that was not a legitimate reason. The court found that Colgate's other justifications were not valid in that there was competition available, an NCAA championship is not a prerequisite and student interest in women's ice hockey was growing. As a result, the court found Colgate in violation of Title IX and ordered it to elevate women's ice hockey to varsity status.

A second group of plaintiffs filed another suit; that was the case scheduled to be heard this month.

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For women in sports or media providing coverage of women's sports, a Women's Sports Foundation guide offers guidelines for covering the full gamut of women's sports.

"Images and Words in Women's Sports" is an expansion of a guide developed in 1994 in response to a number of events in which media were criticized for sexist comments made during network broadcasts or in newspaper and magazine coverage of women's sports.

The guide is intended to encourage fair, gender-neutral coverage of girls and women in sports and fitness, and includes coverage of women's sports in advertising and marketing campaigns or any promotional campaign.

"Images and Words" includes a section on images -- questions to ask when reviewing images of women's sports for any presentation.

"At a time when society is extremely critical of words and images that are disrespectful to women," the guide states, "media companies and corporations using images of active women in their electronic and print advertising are in need of guidelines that will keep them from making errors that carry significant public relations liabilities and, possibly, economic liabilities with female consumers."

Among questions covered: Does the woman look like an athlete? Is she dressed like one? Are her pose and her movements realistic? Would you be comfortable if the girl or woman in the advertisement was your daughter, mom or a female friend?

Another section notes pitfalls for sports announcers and suggests alternatives to help sports commentators guard against unfair or unequal treatment of women athletes.

Also included are guidelines for female athletes who are asked to participate in electronic and print media advertising or other projects. These guidelines are designed to educate athletes about their rights as models and to provide ethics guidelines for decisions related to their participation in advertising and other visual and written programming regarding how they are portrayed.

The guidelines were reviewed by more than 50 of the nation's most highly visible champion female athletes.

The last section includes the most frequently asked questions about electronic and print media coverage of women's sports and the Women's Sports Foundation's answers. Questions include: What is the harm in portraying female athletes as pretty and feminine? Aren't women athletes covered less often by the media because women aren't as interested in sports as men?

A copy of "Images and Words" can be obtained by calling the foundation's information line at 800/227-3988.

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Reading and women's basketball have formed a link at the University of Southern Colorado that has resulted in a dramatic increase in attendance at women's basketball games.

The "Read to Win" program was initiated by Southern Colorado as a gift to the community and involved second-graders at 33 schools in the Pueblo, Colorado, area.

The idea was to help children understand the importance of good reading skills, establish positive relations with children and provide positive role modeling by Southern Colorado student-athletes, and demonstrate to the second-graders that reading can be fun and rewarding.

For every book a students reads, the child receives a "Thunder bill" redeemable at a Southern Colorado basketball, softball or baseball game on designated dates.

"When we developed the Read to Win program, we did not anticipate the residual effects this community program would provide for our men's and women's basketball programs," said athletics director Tony Taibi. "It was a terrific surprise to realize such a significant increase in attendance -- especially for our women's basketball games."

Marcie L. Reynolds, senior woman administrator at Southern Colorado, said that "the program has opened many windows of opportunity that we did not anticipate when we developed the goals and objectives, which obviously center around the children. Our athletics program as a whole is experiencing a spin-off of wonderful advantages, such as increased attendance at our women's basketball events."

Reynolds said attendance at women's basketball games increased by more than 3,000 fans over four games through the program. Because the results were so strong, a similar tie-in with women's softball is planned for this spring, Reynolds said.

-- 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.