Given the scheduled speakers and the heat of the debate over Title IX this past year, the 2003 NCAA Title IX Seminar should be intense.

This year's event, which will be April 28-29 at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla near San Diego, features several members of the Secretary's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics, a group appointed by Secretary of Education Rod Paige last June to review Title IX enforcement. The commission issued its final report at the end of February.

"There's not been a hotter topic in intercollegiate athletics this year than Title IX," said Rosie Stallman, NCAA director of education outreach. "This really is an important year for the Title IX Seminar, and we're expecting the membership's high interest in the topic to be reflected in seminar attendance. Attendees will have an unprecedented chance to hear from the commissioners themselves."

Also speaking will be Norma Cantu, the former assistant secretary for civil rights from 1993 to 2001. Appointed by former President Clinton, Cantu was in charge of Title IX enforcement when the OCR issued the "1996 clarification," a document often criticized by those who oppose the proportionality prong of Title IX.

The commissioners who have confirmed attendance at the Title IX Seminar have divergent views on Title IX enforcement.

They include Donna de Varona, a broadcaster and Olympian who opposes changes to Title IX. De Varona and Julie Foudy, captain of the U.S. national women's soccer team, disagreed with the commission's report and issued their own "minority report," which recommends stronger enforcement of Title IX and no weakening of the law in any area.

Ted Leland, athletics director at Stanford University and former co-chair of the commission, will moderate a general session featuring several of the former commissioners. It's expected to be a lively session, particularly since the former commissioners expected to participate have publicly expressed differing views on Title IX.

Among those participating along with de Varona and Leland will be former commissioner Tom Griffith, general counsel at Brigham Young University, who proposed the commission's recommendation to eliminate proportionality. Though the full commission did not support that recommendation, Griffith's proposal -- and subsequent discussion of it for the public record -- was seen as a victory for those who want the Department of Education to eliminate proportionality.

Former commissioner Rita Simon, professor of public affairs and law at American University, also will participate in the session. Simon has served as president of the Women's Freedom Network since its founding in 1993. According to its Web site, the Women's Freedom Network was founded "by a group of women who were seeking alternatives to extremist ideological feminism and the anti-feminist traditionalism." As a commissioner, Simon supported several proposals that would, if ultimately adopted by the Department of Education, replace proportionality with interest tests.

Former commissioner Percy Bates, faculty athletics representative at the University of Michigan and former chair of the Division I Management Council, also will participate in the session.

Judy Sweet, NCAA senior woman administrator and vice-president of the NCAA, is expected to speak after the commissioners and lead a review of the commission's report.

"The purpose of the session will be to ensure the membership is current on what the recommendations are and to discuss the potential ramifications of the proposals," Sweet said.

"Overall this seminar will provide a timely opportunity to have a dialogue with the membership and identify questions and reactions that might be forwarded to the Department of Education."

The seminar also will provide a chance to honor two ardent supporters of Title IX. The seminar's opening session will feature a tribute to former Hawaii Rep. Patsy Mink, a longtime Title IX advocate who died late last year. The luncheon program also will honor former Indiana Sen. Birch Bayh, one of the sponsors of the original Title IX legislation who remains an advocate of it today.

NCAA President Myles Brand also will speak at the opening session.

This seminar -- the 12th since the NCAA began offering them twice a year in 1995 and annually since 1998 -- will retain the popular "menu" format from previous years. In addition to four "general" sessions, attendees may choose from a variety of concurrent sessions. Those include: Title IX 101; Advanced Title IX; and Involving Student-Athletes in the Title IX Dialogue. Other offerings at the seminar will include divisional sessions focusing on Title IX compliance with prongs one, two or three.

Registration is available online at www.
ncaa.org; the deadline is April 21. The seminar is free for NCAA member institutional and conference staff members. It also is open to the general public for a fee.

For additional information, or to view the seminar's agenda, see www.ncaa.org.