Sally Jenkins, columnist
Washington Post

"If you doubt Title IX is a good and needed law, simply ask yourself what would happen if it were gutted or repealed. How many scholarships and resources would Division I athletics directors devote to women's sports? The answer is, the Connecticut women's basketball team would be holding bake sales to buy uniforms.

"Title IX is not some tortured piece of social activism that favors a minority. It's a law designed to ensure that fully one-half of the American population gets basic rights in the classroom and on the playing field. Those who would tar it as a shaky form of affirmative action should be careful. These same people have defended athletics scholarships for years on the same basis -- and scores of male football and basketball players have brought riches to schools they never would have gained admission to academically. Take away the idea of an athletics scholarship as a reparative educational opportunity, and what's left of the NCAA is a minor league that loses its tax-exempt status. And suddenly Notre Dame's bowl money is auditable."

Christine Stolba, senior fellow
Independent Women's Forum
Fort Wayne (Indiana) News Sentinel

"They (the Office for Civil Rights) are enforcing equal outcomes, which was not the intent of the original ruling. The regulation needs to be revisited. Title IX embraced equal opportunity for men and women. There was a need then. You had the men's team taking a plane and the women's team taking a bus. Unfortunately, it's run amok.

"One thing we'd like to see is wider use of women's student surveys. If only 20 percent of female students are interested in playing sports, why should 50 percent of the school's athletes be women?"

Steve Spurrier, former head football coach
University of Florida
Boulder Daily Camera

"They could probably get away with 75 to 80 (scholarships). Seventy-five, I think, would be a minimum. There are so many players on football scholarships at every college that never play. They're just sort of there helping practice out and so forth."

Robert Hemenway, chancellor
University of Kansas
Boulder Daily Camera

"Frankly, if it were not for football, we would not have made as much progress on Title IX as we have. The dynamics of Division I athletics is that football is really the force that creates the greatest amount of revenue that can be supplied to other sports. All of the big conferences are very dependent on football TV revenue.

"There's a lot of discussion right now around the idea of the cost of big-time athletics, and particularly football because it does have so many players. Just buying 85 shoulder pads or 85 helmets, those expenses go up very fast. I think you'll find people looking at a lot of different ways to try to eliminate some of the costs of football or other sports, too.

"But the athletics departments usually say if we're going to compete in Division I in any sport, we ought to try to think in terms of winning a championship. That's one thing that drives up costs."

Donna Lopiano, executive director
Women's Sports Foundation
Fort Wayne (Indiana) News Sentinel

Discussing differences between male and female coaches' salaries:

"When you consistently low-ball females who come into coaching at the assistant level, why stay in the business? There is no dearth of women who are qualified to coach. Think of all the good players recently. It's just not happening. They're getting a lot of lip service."