Apr 22, 2010 8:24:22 AM

Nine Gallaudet University women student-athletes experienced a unique opportunity on Tuesday as they attended a news conference during which Vice President Joe Biden announced that the Office for Civil Rights was rescinding a 2005 Title IX clarification regarding how institutions can survey to determine student interest in athletics.

The Bison joined other women from the professional, collegiate, high school and youth ranks from the Washington, D.C., area and elsewhere, including the 2010 USA women's ice hockey silver medalist team. Members of the WNBA Washington Mystics and Washington Freedom (women's professional soccer) attended. Student-athletes from George Mason and George Washington also were on hand.

Biden was joined by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan; Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls; and Duke University basketball senior Joy Cheek, who introduced the vice president. Cheek is the niece of Gallaudet head groundskeeper Ronald Cheek.

The Title IX announcement repealed a Bush-era policy that allowed colleges and high schools to rely on electronic surveys to prove a lack of interest in starting a new women's sport. A non-response or a blank questionnaire was considered as disinterest.

"We have to make sure that all of the women and girls here and nationwide reach their potential and have opportunity," Biden told the crowd of several hundred. "My one wish is for every woman to have the same opportunity as a man. It is not just here but around the world. Title IX has done so much to change the attitudes of men and women."

Gallaudet senior volleyball player Shana Lehmann, who attended the news conference, said she did not realize the impact of Title IX has had on women's athletics over the years.

"As a woman student-athlete, I truly appreciate the establishment of Title IX," she said. "The speech also made me reflect on the importance of encouraging young girls to participate in athletics at an early age and to be given equal opportunities to play."

The Gallaudet contingent included Director of Athletics Michael Weinstock; Title IX coordinator and women's soccer coach Sarah Gumina; women's volleyball coach Lynn Ray Boren; women's basketball coach Kevin Cook; sports information director Sam Atkinson; and student-athletes Johanna Arrigo (soccer), Easter Faafiti (basketball), Kara Gulvas (soccer, softball), Justine Jeter (volleyball), Paige Johnson (volleyball), Amanda Krieger (volleyball), Lehmann (volleyball), Tiffany Narciso (soccer) and Ann Whited (volleyball, basketball).

Weinstock said the event was "a great opportunity for our women student-athletes to learn more about Title IX and to understand more about the policy."

"I am glad Vice President Biden emphasized the importance of equal access for female athletes," he said.

Biden worked the crowd after the news conference and shook hands and posed for pictures. Though the Gallaudet group was unable to meet Biden, members presented a special women's soccer scarf to Biden's assistant to give to him. The Bison also mingled with members of the 2010 USA women's ice hockey team, Joy Cheek and some other members of the WNBA.

"I am thankful for Title IX and the opportunities it has allowed me as a student-athlete," Arrigo said. "I share the same goal as the vice president about Title IX blending in over time. Hopefully by the time I am a mother to a daughter, the thought of Title IX will be more commonplace."

Sam Atkinson is sports information director at Gallaudet University.