The Wake

With gender equality in mind, the government crafted a federal law in 1972 called Title IX. The law states, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

Although it has been debated since its adoption, the law has had implications that many people are unaware of. Title IX has taken down barriers throughout education and athletics for women across the country. In the Big Ten, there are 13 championships for women and 12 for men. Women’s athletics have been involved in the Big Ten since 1981.

Some believe the law has stifling effects on varsity sports at the University of Minnesota. For example, volleyball, rowing and soccer are only offered for women at the varsity level. This is to compensate for football and wrestling which are offered solely to men at the varsity level. Men’s soccer, volleyball and crew are offered among other sports, at the club level.

Scholarships play a major role in regards to Title IX because men and women’s sports must receive an equal amount of scholarships. Since the football team receives an extraordinary amount of scholarships compared to other sports, other men’s programs get the short end of the stick to make up for the football team’s abundance. For example, women’s track and field at the University receives 18 scholarships whereas the men’s track and field program receives only 12.6 scholarships. These scholarships can be divided into partial scholarships as long as they do not exceed the total amount allotted for the program. This inequity directly affects the men’s track and field team as well as other programs.

Women’s varsity programs don’t draw crowds like football. The average attendance at the Metrodome for a Gophers football game this season was 49,792 fans. This number is unheard of in women’s sports. The Minnesota Women’s volleyball team, ranked no. 17 in the nation, had its highest attendance of the season against Indiana, when 9,671 fans cheered on the Lady Gophers to victory. Women’s hockey, which has won back to back national championships, has yet to have over 1,700 fans at a home game this season. Fans simply do not turn out for women’s sports as much as they do for men’s, although genders draw dedicated fan bases.

Not only does Title IX affect sports, but it has also played a role in the Minnesota marching band. In 1950, a “girl’s band” was formed and was considered the women’s division of the marching band. With the adoption of title IX in 1972, women were allowed to become members of the once all-male marching band.

In March of this year, the Department of Education added a clarification to the compliance requirements for schools. Now, a school has the option to conduct e-mail surveys of its female students to research whether or not interest is present for additional women’s sports. A non-response from an individual can be interpreted as a lack of interest among women. This then means that the school is adhering to the Title IX rules. Thus, a school can choose not to add a women’s sport. This puts the effectiveness and progress of this law in jeopardy. This new clarification has been under fire since its adoption and leaves one to wonder whether the steps forward over the past 33 years have been reversed.

It is clear this law is controversial for a variety of reasons but is necessary for women’s involvement in sports on campus. Without the law, female athletes at the university would not be given nearly as many opportunities to showcase their talents. Also, there would be a tremendous imbalance in terms of scholarship opportunities for women and men. The future of this law is not nearly as promising as it was one year ago. For now, all one can do is wait and see how the Department of Education will react to the backlash from its recent action.