ANAHEIM, California -- More than 500 Convention attendees turned out for the January 11 Title IX Association-wide session, which focused on the Secretary's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics.

Ted Leland, athletics director at Stanford University and co-chair of the commission reviewing Title IX regulations and implementation, provided an update on the group's work thus far.

The commission has held four town-hall meetings and one meeting in which it discussed preliminary recommendations. It has had 35 hours of public meetings, he said, and heard 152 invited speakers and more than 400 public speakers. The commission is scheduled to meet one more time, at the end of January, before issuing its report to the U.S. Secretary of Education.

Leland, who noted that his remarks were his alone and not that of the commission, brought some levity to the gathering by showing a series of photos on the overhead. The first was a child on Santa's knee, his eyes full of wonder, which Leland said represented his feelings at the beginning of the process. The next photo showed Leland behind his desk buried in reams of paper as a result of his commission service. A photo of his desk, empty of the paperwork as well as its owner, reflected his response to "60 Minutes" when it came calling.

Leland reported that the commission had heard about Title IX's important successes, which he said included a significant increase in women's and girls' participation and also significant support for the concept of the three-part test. Leland then reported what he considered ongoing challenges, such as confusion over requirements for compliance and unintended consequences. He also noted that many schools were not in compliance with the law.

Leland also said he had observed in the debate over Title IX that there seemed to be disagreement over the definition of fairness, which he termed as nondiscrimination versus equal opportunity versus equal outcomes.

He then reviewed the categories of possible recommendations by the commission, noting that they included re-thinking the proportionality formula in prong one, better education and stronger guidelines, and intercollegiate athletics arms race issues. Leland also mentioned that the commission was struggling with whether the athletics arms race fell within its jurisdiction.

"I think we've taken the first step in a long process," he said of the commission and potential changes to Title IX. "Our recommendations to the Secretary will not be the final words, rather it is the first word."

Judy Sweet, NCAA vice-president for championships and senior woman administrator, presented a review of Title IX law and regulations and then gave her impressions and concerns about the commission's work so far.

"Even though Title IX does not dictate a reduction in men's opportunities, the unfortunate loss of men's opportunities has been a major focus labeled as 'unintended consequences.' In reality, any reductions are institutional decisions based on institutional priorities, philosophy and resources," she said.

Sweet said commissioners also asked to hear from experts from the Office for Civil Rights, the General Accounting Office, legal experts, financial researchers and representatives of programs that have successfully met Title IX requirements without eliminating men's opportunities. "For the most part," she said, "this did not happen, and even (former NCAA President) Ced Dempsey's request to be a panelist was denied, although he was allowed an opportunity to speak for five minutes during the open forum in San Diego."

Sweet also said that the panelists, chosen by Department of Education staff, included a disproportionate number of people representing men's declining sports.

"This is not to suggest that their input is not important, but the other side was not represented equitably. There were no panelists from women's new Olympic sports that benefited from Title IX, or from women's discontinued sports, including women's gymnastics," Sweet said.

"Unrealized women's opportunities were not given an opportunity to be heard, either. It is easier to express passion for lost opportunities and generate compassion than it is when opportunities have never been experienced. The loss is a loss in both cases," Sweet said, further noting that at least five of the panelists represented institutions that had been sued for compliance programs, with no panelists chosen who represented plaintiffs against institutions in Title IX cases.

As for the recommendations coming out of the December commission meeting, Sweet said she thought they were a reflection of the role of the Department of Education staff, which she said transcripts showed had been focused from the first hearing in Atlanta on interest surveys, changing prong one and counting opportunities rather than actual participants.

"I don't believe that commissioners truly understand the impact of what is currently on the table," she said. "I would be even more disappointed if they do understand the impact and believe that such change is in keeping with the spirit of Title IX and opportunity."