The year 2006 marks two milestones in collegiate athletics: the NCAA Centennial and the 25th anniversary of women's championships. Festivities celebrating these milestones take place in January at the 2006 NCAA Convention in Indianapolis.

The Centennial has been appropriately dubbed "100 Years -- Celebrating the Student-Athlete." Invitees include individuals being honored for their accomplishments while competing and working in NCAA athletics. Other guests will be recognized for having made favorable strides promoting Title IX.

An invitation also has been extended to President George W. Bush to provide the keynote address at the Convention's opening business session.

Title IX opened doors for women in athletics. The U.S. Department of Education and the Bush administration undermined its substance by allowing schools to prove compliance by having their students complete an online survey as a way of meeting the requirements of prong three of Title IX. Results are used to determine the amount of interest in athletics by the under-represented gender on campus (women in most cases). Unreturned surveys may be interpreted as a lack of interest. Consequently, this is likely to justify stalling or hindering the growth of women's athletics due to a "reported" lack of interest.

Thus, I was not surprised to hear some athletics administrators describe their reaction as disappointed, disturbed and disheartened when learning of the extended invitation to President Bush.

If he accepts the invitation, some individuals serving as role models for girls and women in athletics have said they will demonstrate their support for equal opportunities and their opposition to the President's policies by participating in a silent protest at the Convention, or by not attending at all.

President Bush's presence will add media coverage to the Centennial celebration, but what of the milestone marking the 25th anniversary of women's championships? President Bush's administration is the catalyst behind recently adopted Title IX policies that many individuals view as detrimental to women's athletics. Along with the added media coverage, his presence is likely to bring noisy and silent protests detracting from the celebration.

It is understandable that the NCAA wants an influential and well-known individual to deliver the keynote address, and the office of the President is to be respected. But the keynote speaker should be someone who personifies the values of the NCAA, including equal opportunity.

Well-known individuals aiding in the promotion and success of Title IX include Billie Jean King, founder of the Women's Sports Foundation and whose tennis victory over Bobby Riggs in 1973's Battle of the Sexes was a groundbreaking event for women in athletics; Donna Lopiano, executive director of the Women's Sports Foundation; Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who spoke out against the Department of Education's clarification and urged the Bush administration to reconsider the weakening of Title IX; and Mia Hamm, born the year that Title IX was enacted and is often thought of as its poster child -- she inspired women and girls in athletics as a collegiate student-athlete and as a professional soccer player.

As a former student-athlete and current sports information director for two Division II entities, I am saddened by the thought that, on an anniversary to celebrate women in collegiate championships, a female champion of both men's and women's athletics may not be sharing the podium at the NCAA Convention's opening business session.

Erin Merz, a former student-athlete at Grand Valley State University, is the sports information director for the Great Lakes Valley Conference and an assistant SID at the University of Indianapolis.