The 2001 NCAA Title IX Seminar in Indianapolis May 15-16 was the place to be to discuss gender equity. More than 150 attendees participated in sessions and panel discussions on topics ranging from "Title IX Basics" to "Coaches' Compensation" to "Alternative Solutions to Dropping Teams."

New topics for this year included sessions on "How to Increase Media Coverage of Women's Teams," "Conducting Interest Surveys -- Examples and Techniques," and a session on "Issues from Washington, D.C." The seminar again featured a menu format to permit maximum flexibility for participants, and several of the most popular sessions were offered twice.

One of the most popular elements of the seminar this year was the video presentation "Game Face: What does a female athlete look like?" by Jane Gottesman, which was shown at lunch the first day and repeated during a break the second day.

Other popular and well-attended sessions included "Scholarships and Participation Strategies," "Title IX Implications for Promotions and Fund-raising with Limited Resources," and "Realistic Solutions for Increasing Opportunities for Minority Women."

"I was so pleased to see the sharing of information, experiences, and ideas that took place at the seminar" said Judy Sweet, NCAA senior woman administrator and vice-president for championships. "This was an outstanding forum for identifying solutions that will enhance gender equity in intercollegiate athletics."

Sweet kicked off the seminar with a welcome for all participants. It marked the first time that Sweet, who was named as the first NCAA SWA in November, addressed Title IX seminar attendees in her new role.

NCAA President Cedric W. Dempsey also welcomed participants and emphasized the importance of gender equity to the Association.

"I do believe we've seen progress in the last decade (regarding gender equity in athletics), but we're still not there," Dempsey said.

Dempsey cited the NCAA's most recent Gender-Equity Report, noting that Division I institutions have allocated 40 percent of participation opportunities to female student-athletes, "a 90 percent growth over the last six years."

"When I came to the NCAA in 1994, I made a commitment to improve the gender representation of the NCAA national office staff," Dempsey said. "We now have 32 percent women inupper management and 53.2 percent in administrative positions, an improvement over the 31.9 percent that we had when I came.

"Our goal (in intercollegiate athletics) is clear: to provide equitable opportunities for men and women. Our reason is just as clear: it's the right thing to do."

Data spearheaded action

John DiBiaggio, president of Tufts University and the seminar's keynote speaker, followed Dempsey with his presentation, "Title IX -- What is the right thing to do?"

DiBiaggio noted that only nine years ago, an NCAA gender-equity study indicated how much progress needed to be made.

"I am sure that it was understood that this would be a real Pandora's box, because again, once the word was out there was no turning back," he said.

DiBiaggio said the 1992 study noted that men's intercollegiate athletics teams received about 83 percent of the funds available for recruiting, almost 70 percent of athletics scholarship money and 77 percent of operating dollars designated for athletics, despite the fact that overall enrollment in colleges and universities, on average, was split almost evenly between men and women.

"Back in 1992, these statistics were readily familiar to all who were connected to or had an interest in athletics," DiBiaggio said. "Gender equity was the topic, and it was here to stay. So let's talk about now. What is different? What has not changed?"

DiBiaggio noted that the Hastert/Wellstone study, conducted by the federal General Accounting Office and measuring from 1981 to1999, found participation rates rising overall for women and men. Women's participation in athletics increased from 90,000 to 163,000. During the same period, men's participation increased from 220,000 to 232,000.

DiBiaggio also called on college presidents to take an active role in gender equity.

"For too many years," he said, "presidents allowed intercollegiate athletics departments to do their own thing -- to operate outside of the administrative umbrella, sometimes with little or no regard for the institution's mission or goals. We did not pay attention as well as we should have. We did not participate actively in NCAA governance issues. We did not take on the booster clubs and the old-boy network of legislators, trustees and coaches. In short, we were not minding the store." DiBiaggio noted that while the situation has improved greatly, much work remains.

"So, I come before you to argue that we must set aside any vestiges that still exist in opposition to the purposes of Title IX," DiBiaggio said. "I call upon all of us to fundamentally rededicate ourselves to a value that we continue to promulgate, that of fair play."

New ideas

"Alternative Solutions to Dropping Teams" was a first-time session that offered alternative ideas for achieving gender equity. Marilyn McNeil, athletics director at Monmouth University, and Richard Aronson, professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, both offered ideas for preserving sports, particularly Olympic sports.

"In the last three months, it seems like we've been hearing about more and more institutions dropping sports," Aronson said. "Collegiate Olympic sports are the lifeline to the Olympic movement and a continued erosion and loss of such sports, with certainty, will have a negative effect on the future of our international sports stature."

McNeil refuted several popular myths about Title IX, and she also offered solutions.

"It's a myth that Title IX is to be blamed for the loss of men's sports," she said. "Women have gained spots; men have gained spots. Men still have 70,000 more participation opportunities than women. Institutions are choosing where to add participation opportunities.

"It's also a myth that you must cut men's sports to comply with Title IX," she said, noting that institutions have increased budgets in an effort to "keep up with the arms race," but have chosen to place those additional funds in men's basketball and football.

McNeil also pointed out that it was a myth that those sports funded the rest of the athletics departments at NCAA member schools.

"Of the 1,200 institutions that play football, only 65 of them make money," she said, referring to recent statistics. "Only 15 institutions in Division I spent more on their entire women's program than they did on football, yet budgets in Division I have increased by an average of $2 million."

McNeil pointed to roster management, fiscal rearrangement and gender-equity plans as ways to achieve equity without dropping sports.

"I've asked my sports to agree on a roster size that makes sense," she said. "Ask the question, 'How many people can you give a quality experience to?' If they're not going to have a chance to compete, why are they wearing the uniform?"

Another new seminar was "How to Increase Media Coverage of Women's Teams," which featured Reed Hollinshead, associate sports information director at Idaho State, and journalist Jane Gottesman.

"The first year I was at Idaho State (1998-99), I noticed that the men had much more coverage than the women, so I set about changing that," he said.

Of the 566 sports information materials provided by Hollinshead to the Idaho State Journal during his study, the paper used 528 of them in some manner, for a success ratio of 93.3 percent.

Reed advised attendees to develop a relationship with the media, make it easy for the media to use the materials provided and write press releases in a way that gets to the point quickly.

Gottesman encouraged participants to focus on a unique personality or "hook" that would attract attention.

"Sell them a good story; don't try to sell them a good women's story or try to appeal to them for equity," she said.