The Secretary's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics released its final report to U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige February 26, but the event was overshadowed somewhat by the release of an opposing "minority report" by two commissioners, Julie Foudy, captain of the U.S. national women's soccer team, and Donna de Varona, a sports broadcaster and former Olympian.

The final copy of the commission's report, "Open to All -- Title IX at 30," was unveiled by commission co-chairs Ted Leland, athletics director at Stanford University, and Cynthia Cooper, a former WNBA player and coach.

"We are very proud to have served Secretary Paige and believe our report reflects the broad consensus for modest changes that will make the law work better for all athletes, men and women," Leland and Cooper said in a joint statement at a Department of Education news conference.

"Our charge was to examine Title IX's enforcement and look at ways to increase opportunities for all athletes. For the past eight months, we've heard from thousands of people -- through expert panels, public comment periods and written statements. After months of deliberation, it's clear to us that Title IX enforcement needs to be reformed in order to make the law more clear, fair, enforceable and truly open to all, while maintaining the extraordinary process set in motion by Title IX."

Foudy and de Varona disputed the need to change Title IX when they issued their minority report.

"I was hopeful when this commission started that we could present a report to Secretary Paige that would make recommendations to strengthen Title IX," Foudy said. "Unfortunately, the report the Secretary of Education will be receiving does just the opposite. Many of the recommendations the commission approved would substantially reduce the opportunities to which women and girls are entitled under current law."

Foudy said she and de Varona, who was unable to attend the news conference because she was out of the country, thought that their many concerns with both the report's content, statistics and tone were not addressed. The 20-page minority report takes issue with several key recommendations of the commision's report and emphasizes that discrimination against women and girls still exists.

"People have said, 'Come on, (the report) is better than before. Maybe some of these recommendations aren't ideal, but sometimes you have to negotiate.' I ask them, 'Tell me when this country started negotiating away equal opportunity?,' Foudy said.

"We felt compelled to issue a minority report because our views were not represented in the commission's final report. Unfortunately, we have learned that the Secretary of Education will decline to accept this report."

A spokesperson for Paige told The New York Times that although Paige would review the comments of the two dissenting commissioners, those comments would not enter the public record as part of the group's official report.

Foudy was joined at the news conference by actor Geena Davis, an amateur archer; Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota; Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Massachusetts; Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington; and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, was unable to attend but also released a statement calling the commission's report "deeply flawed."

Several other senators issued statements as well, with Daschle calling on President Bush to "save Title IX." Most of the senators expressed concern that the commission's report calls for changes that would reduce the number of opportunities women currently have, without acknowledging that women are still the underrepresented gender.

"There are some who have found it encouraging that the commission isn't recommending a complete repeal of Title IX," Daschle said. "But just because someone wants to set the clock back 10 or 20 years -- rather than 30 or 40 years -- is no reason to breathe easy. The game is still only in the third quarter. And we refuse to let the President declare a phony victory and go home. Our daughters deserve better. I urge the president: Save Title IX."

Also released at the news conference was a letter to President Bush signed by Snowe; Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania; Murray; Daschle; Kennedy; and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont.

"We are writing to express our strong support for existing Title IX policies governing participation in athletics, and urge you to reject any recommendations the commission made to alter Title IX guidelines and regulations in any way," the letter said in part. "We believe that the commission's recommendations could prove to undermine Title IX's protections and could dramatically reduce sports opportunities and scholarships for women."

'Open to all'

Many of the questions at the Department of Education news conference focused on the minority report.

"I am very disappointed that Julie and Donna decided to leave the commission," Cooper said. "We tried in every way to accommodate their concerns in everything we did. Thirteen other commissioners supported the report. But I have a real problem with (Foudy and de Varona issuing a minority report). They should have stepped away a long time ago if they didn't like the work."

Cary Groth, athletics director at Northern Illinois University and a member of the commission, expressed concern to The NCAA News that there was no official vote or opportunity to sign off on the report, yet the other 13 commissioners were characterized as supporting it fully.

"I'm very concerned that there's been language used indicating that the report was supported, 13-2," she said. "How can there be a statement made that it's 13-2 when there's no official vote?

"I know there are other commissioners who have concerns with the report. I wish we were able to take an official vote. Personally, I am very uncomfortable with some of the recommendations in this commission report. I wish we had put pen to paper to see what their ramifications would be before we recommended them."

Groth said the process the commission followed, which often was unclear even to commissioners, made the work of the commission and also the issuing of a final report difficult.

"Had we not had so many issues with the process along the way, we might not be in the position of (Foudy and de Varona) having a minority report," she said.

Leland, interviewed by The NCAA News the day before the final report was issued, agreed that the process was the most difficult part of the commission's work.

"The process was imperfect, but I think it was fair," he said. "Everybody had their say. We heard from individuals who have very differing viewpoints. I disagree with those who say the process was not open.

"Now those who say the process was confusing and inelegant, I would agree with them. I'd never done anything like this before. It reminded me of when we first went through the restructuring of the NCAA. We had to do many things for the first time and sort of make up some things as we went."

Leland also was disappointed that Foudy and de Varona felt they couldn't support the final commission report. Leland had tried, through several phone calls, to change language in the report and to accommodate their concerns.

"I was disappointed that I wasn't able to broker a report they would feel good about," Leland said. "They're great people who worked hard. There are no hard feelings. I certainly understand their hesitancy."

Leland also noted that the report likely would be criticized by those who believed it didn't go far enough to recommend changes to Title IX.

"There are people who don't want Title IX to change one bit," he said. "I think those people are disappointed. At the same time, there is another group of people who wanted Title IX completely thrown out. The commission did not recommend that. In fact, there are many recommendations, if adopted, that would actually strengthen Title IX enforcement.

"People on both ends of the spectrum are unhappy. It's ironic that you'd be in a situation where you make everybody mad and consider that a good job, but that seems to be the case here."

Mixed reaction

Many of those who were concerned with the commission's preliminary reports remained concerned after the final report was issued.

As Leland predicted, many supporters of Title IX were concerned that the report contains recommendations that could potentially weaken Title IX enforcement. Among observers expressing concern with the final report was NCAA President Myles Brand.

"As well-intentioned as the commissioners were, the recommendations simply provide too much opportunity for mischief in the implementation of Title IX," Brand said. "The spotlight now is on the Secretary of Education and the Bush Administration to protect the continued growth of athletics opportunities for women."

Judy Sweet, NCAA vice-president of championships and senior woman administrator, also is concerned about the commission's report and its impact on women's opportunities.

"When Secretary Paige announced the formation of the commission last June, the stated intent was to 'examine ways to strengthen enforcement and expand opportunities to ensure fairness for all college athletes,' " Sweet said. "I applaud the commissioners for their recommendations that call for strong, consistent enforcement. I am dismayed by those recommendations that have the potential of changing the original intent of Title IX to provide equal opportunity for the underrepresented gender.

"This law has been in place for more than 30 years and acclaimed universally for its importance, yet women remain the underrepresented gender. The interest of girls and women in sports participation has increased exponentially and continues to increase as new opportunities are provided. What is needed now is a strong commitment to fully accommodate the interests and abilities of girls and women. That action would be true to the Secretary's charge to ensure fairness for all."

Those who wished the the commission would take a strong stance in opposition to the proportionality prong also were disappointed with the commission's final report, though they were encouraged that the commission convened.

"Generally, what was encouraging about the process was that, for the first time, there was reasonable and civilized debate about this emotional issue," said Mike Moyer, executive director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA). "The recommendations I have reviewed are a step in the right direction, with more flexibility."

Moyer said his organization was encouraged by recommendations that called for more flexibility in enforcement and also those that called for the elimination of proportionality as a "safe harbor" for institutions.

Many of those opposed to proportionality have argued that its designation, in court opinion, as a "safe harbor" has led institutions to eliminate men's teams in an effort to comply with proportionality.

The NWCA and the College Sports Council, which have sued the Department of Education alleging that proportionality requirements have resulted in the elimination of men's teams, also were unhappy with statistics used in the report.

The NWCA and the Sports Council sent a letter to the Department of Education asking that the report not be disseminated "without first acknowledging and correcting the report's statistical errors."

At contention are statistics in reports by Congress' General Accounting Office. Overall, though, Moyer is upbeat about the commission's report.

"It's clear that neither side got everything it wanted. At the end of the day, there should be compromise," he said. "I think our society in general has been awakened to the wholesale elimination of these opportunities (for men) and the importance of the opportunities. I think that's something we can all agree on."

It's unclear what the next step for the Department of Education will be.

The Secretary will likely examine the commission's report carefully, but there is no timetable for his action. He also is not bound by the report.

Murray, the senator from Washington, said she will ask for a hearing on whether the commission conducted a fair process. She also has indicated that other legislative actions could follow.

Certainly, the debate over Title IX will not be concluded any time soon.