Copyright 2002 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company  
The Houston Chronicle
June 23, 2002, Sunday 4 STAR EDITION
SECTION: A; Pg. 01

LENGTH: 3089 words

HEADLINE: TITLE IX;
30 YEARS LATER;
Sexes still unequal in athletics;
Title IX changed the playing field, but it's not level

SOURCE: Staff

BYLINE: JEROME SOLOMON

BODY:
Two pretty good bets concerning Title IX: It isn't going to disappear, and no offending institution will ever receive the maximum punishment for breaking the law that prohibits sex discrimination in athletics.

Of course, extreme arguments call for both.

Some argue for the abolition of Title IX, the segment of the Education Amendments of 1972 that outlaws discrimination based on sex by institutions that receive federal funding.

Others suggest that regulators implement Title IX's ultimate sanction: denial of federal funds for violators.

Centrists, meanwhile, say the heated debate is so much hot air.

"Title IX isn't going anywhere any time soon," said Title IX consultant Lamar Daniel. "People had better learn to live with it, and institutions need to learn to comply with it."

The Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, which is charged with enforcing Title IX, estimates that only 2 percent of complaints involve athletics. Yet, over three decades, it seems that 100 percent of Title IX rhetoric involves the ability of high school and college athletic departments to meet its three-part challenge.

Thirty years after Title IX's passage, college administrators say that only 20 percent of athletic programs are in compliance with the law, and that amount is probably a record high level of compliance.

"There has been little or no enforcement for 30 years," said Donna Lopiano, executive director of the Women's Sports Foundation and the former athletic director at the University of Texas. "The Office of Civil Rights hasn't done a good job, but there have been a number of lawsuits and a number of media articles that have put pressure on schools to make progress. But progress has been slow and steady."

A recent study by the Chronicle of Higher Education, based in part on the Equity in Athletics Act reports required of each college, found only 18 of more than 300 NCAA Division I schools had a percentage of female athletes that matched or exceeded their percentage of female students.

More than 40 schools, including Texas Christian University, Baylor and Sam Houston State, had a difference of at least 20 percentage points between female enrollment and athletic participation.

Texas A&M is the only Division I school in Texas whose percentage of female athletes is higher than or equal to its percentage of female students. Women make up 49.1 percent of A&M's athletes, compared with 48.6 percent of its student body. A&M would be the only school in the state in compliance with Title IX were this the only criterion.

Less than 10 years ago, A&M's male/female ratio was 60/40. But the athletic department mostly has been ahead of or near the curve. In 1993, 39 percent of A&M's student body was female, as were 37 percent of its athletes.

Though the numbers for other Texas schools are not as impressive as they are at A&M, they looked much worse a few years ago.

The University of Texas, which has long had one of the country's strongest women's athletic programs, was sued in 1993. The university settled the case out of court, agreeing to improve its percentage of participating females from 23 percent.

Women made up 47 percent of the student body at the time and now represent 51 percent. Thanks to the addition of sports like softball, soccer and crew, 45.5 percent of the school's athletes now are female.

Texas Tech settled a Title IX complaint in 1994 and, like Texas, has improved its numbers. Females made up 46.3 percent of Tech's student body in 1994 but only 26.3 percent of its athletic scholarships. Tech's student body today is 46.5 percent female, and women now comprise 41.3 percent of its athletes.

The University of Houston had 224 male athletes to 97 female athletes in 1997 (30 percent), though its student body was nearly 53 percent female. The current percentage of female students (53.6) is still substantially higher than the percentage of female athletes (38.4).

Across Division I, 53 percent of all undergraduate students are female, compared with 41 percent of Division I athletes.

Though she would love for progress to come at a quicker pace, Lopiano said she recognizes social change takes time. What she is most concerned about is the recent opposition to Title IX, which she considers part of an "unhealthy" debate on the topic.

"It's pitting men against women and is using stereotypes of expectations - like boys are more interested in sports than girls and therefore should receive more opportunities," she said. "I don't want anybody saying girls are more interested in dance than boys or boys are more interested in technology and science and math than girls, just like I don't want anybody telling children that boys are more interested in sports."

But Jessica Gavora, who took a leave from her position as senior policy adviser in the Justice Department to write a book on Title IX (Tilting the Playing Field: Schools, Sports, Sex and Title IX), makes the above argument with nary a blink.

"There are indications out there that show pretty clearly that right now that there are different levels of interest (in athletics) between men and women," Gavora said. "There are clear, measurable, identifiable, absolute differences in the propensity of men versus women to watch athletics.

"I think there is a difference in the propensity to undertake it, and I don't think it's an insult to women to acknowledge that or that it takes anything away from those women that are out there and enthusiastic athletes."

Gavora believes Title IX has created a quota system that forces institutions to discriminate against men by cutting non-revenue-producing sports like tennis, swimming and wrestling.

Lopiano's group says non-revenue sports are frequently cut because of budget decisions designed in part to protect the cash cow of college football, not to meet Title IX requirements.

She also notes that while 53 percent of the students at NCAA Division I institutions are female, only 43 percent of the athletes are female and that, on average, women's programs receive just 36 percent of the athletic budget and 32 percent of the athletic recruiting budget.

And as for the argument that men are more interested in sports than are women, Lopiano says recent history - with the growth in participation by women and the establishment of professional leagues such as the WNBA - proves that, given the opportunity, women will participate.

Just about the only element of Title IX that no one disputes is its impact on participation levels in high school and college sports.

While the number of boys competing in high school athletics has increased by 10 percent over the last 30 years, girls' participation during that period has risen almost tenfold, from 294,015 to 2,784,154. In 1972, one in 27 high school girls played varsity sports. In 2001, two of every five did.

College athletic departments have undergone a similar transformation. Last year, more than 150,000 women competed in NCAA-sponsored sports, compared with almost 30,000 in 1972.

After that, however, agreement is hard to come by. The fiercest disagreement involves the three-prong test, first advanced in 1979, that schools must meet to be found in compliance.

The first - described by the Office of Civil Rights in 1996 as the "safe harbor" for compliance - is proportionality: that a school's male-to-female ratio of athletes be in line with its ratio of male-to-female students.

The second is whether the school shows a history and continuing practice of adding women's sports.

The third asks whether schools "fully and effectively accommodate . . . the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex."

Under that prong, an institution could comply if it proves there is no clamor for a particular sport or that no females are being denied a chance to participate in a varsity sport.

If that is the case, a school could be judged in compliance without having to face the feared proportionality prong.

Title IX critics want to remove the proportionality prong.

"My perspective is that Title IX is in pretty desperate need of reform to restore its original intent," Gavora said. "The proportionality test needs to be dispensed with because it's an arbitrary formula."

Nancy Hogshead, an Olympic gold-medal swimmer and Title IX attorney, argues that since there are almost 2.8 million girls competing in high school athletics, and there are collegiate opportunities for only 350,000 athletes of both sexes, in no way could there be a shortage of female candidates.

"If you just use interest and ability, you just freeze us where we are right now," Hogshead said. "It doesn't allow for the natural growth (similar to) that we've seen over the past 30 years. Women's participation is a function of whether or not they have the opportunity to participate, not just on some random question of 'are they interested?'

"Schools are going to have athletes on campus that are willing to play sports if they go out and recruit them. The reason there are 7-foot basketball players on the Duke University campus is that they went and found them.

"To say there's no interest there is just silly. Of course there's interest."

Lopiano said those who favor aggressive enforcement of Title IX standards have one advantage: You don't have to be conservative or liberal to have daughters, and no one wants their child's opportunities to be limited.

Hogshead said all the calls she gets from people concerned about possible Title IX violations come from fathers with daughters. Lopiano jokes that no political party wants to upset soccer moms in an election year by making changes to a law that has done so much for girls.

Title IX proponents are a large and spirited group. When a group led by the Wrestling Coaches Association of America filed a federal suit alleging that Title IX enforcement has discriminated against men in non-revenue sports, more than 13,000 e-mails were sent in less than two hours from the Women's Sports Foundation to congressmen in support of Title IX.

"That was without our going out with any call for letter writing," Lopiano said. "There is no question in my mind that there are plenty of folks out there, men and women, who support Title IX unequivocally, and there is a spontaneity out there and a real passion for opportunities for daughters that has been stirred up."

Lopiano expects the debates to rage on but does not expect Title IX to be weakened through legislative amendments. And she expects the number of institutions that are in compliance to increase, meaning opportunities for girls and women in athletics will do likewise.

"There have been 25 years of litigation, and it has stood unchanged through all of them and none of the reverse discrimination claims have seen the light of day," Lopiano said. "I want it to be steady at the wheel. It's going to take another 10 or 15 years before the dinosaurs get out of the decision-making positions as athletic directors and the first generation of moms and dads who are supporting their daughters in sport become the decision makers.

"I think slow and steady is OK for this magnitude of social change."

COMING MONDAY: A look at the other side of Title IX - the effect on men's athletic programs.



  



What is Title IX?

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which amended the 1964 Civil Rights Act and was signed into law by President Nixon, 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."

How is it determined whether schools, colleges or universities are in compliance with Title IX as it relates to athletic opportunities for women?

In 1979, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare issued regulations, confirmed by the Department of Education in 1996, establishing what is known as the three-prong test. Schools must meet only one of the three standards to be found in compliance.

1. Does the institution show "substantive proportionality"? In other words, is the number of athletic opportunities for women generally equivalent to the number of women enrolled in school?

Example: In 2000-01, 48.62 percent of undergraduate students at Texas A&M University were female. Of the more than 800 student-athletes on campus, 49.14 percent were female. A&M qualifies under that portion of the test.

Title IX guidelines also require that colleges award the same proportion of scholarship aid to female athletes, within one percentage point, as there are women who participate in varsity sports. Athletes who compete in more than one sport are counted once.

At Texas Tech, for example, 36.67 percent of scholarship athletes are women, and the school awards 37.53 percent of its scholarship budget to women. Tech is one of 45 schools nationwide, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, that is in compliance in this area.

2. Does the school show a history and continuing practice of adding women's sports?

This test is rarely used, but it can come into play as schools attempt to settle Title IX-related lawsuits. In 1993, as part of a lawsuit settlement, the University of Texas at Austin agreed to add three women's sports: soccer, softball and a third sport; officials eventually decided on women's crew. Texas now offers nine men's sports and 11 women's sports.

3. Can a school show that it is fully and effectively accommodating the interests and abilities of women who wish to compete in varsity athletics?

When the Education Department updated its Title IX guidelines in 1996, Norma V. Cantu, assistant secretary for civil rights, said schools meeting this standard should demonstrate "whether there are concrete and viable interests among the underrepresented sex that should be accommodated by an institution."



  



The changing face of sports



The ratio of boys to girls in high school sports was 12.5 to 1 in the 1970-71 schools year. Thirty years later, the ratio was 1.4 to 1.



  





Title IX by the numbers



Even though student-athletes are at the core of the issue, Title IX compliance generally comes down to numbers crunching. However, schools that fare the best under one area of compliance often fall short in other areas. Here are numbers for the 10 NCAA Division I-A schools in Texas for 2000/2001, as compiled by the Chronicle of Higher Education based on information from the annual reports required under the federal Equity in Athletics Act. Numbers in parenthesis indicate rank among the 115 Division I-A schools.

Proportionality and participation



One way to measure Title IX compliance is to compare the percentage of female student-athletes to the percentage of female students. A positive difference indicates that female students are over-represented when compared to the student body; a negative difference indicates under-representation. <PRE> Percent Percent School female female Difference undergraduates athletes

Baylor 57.70% (13) 36.15% (96) -21.55 (108)

Houston 53.56% (43) 38.40% (86) -15.16 (95)

North Texas 54.88% (28) 43.01% (64) 11.87 (83)

Rice 46.99% (97) 32.78% (109)-14.21 (93)

SMU 54.86% (29) 43.51% (60) -11.35 (74)

TCU 59.14% (8) 36.35% (94) -22.79 (111)

Texas 51.06%(74) 45.54% (37) -5.52 (43)

Texas A&M 48.62% (86) 49.14% (13) +0.52 (7)

Texas Tech 46.54% (98) 41.28% (76) -5.27 (39)

UTEP 54.49% (35) 38.59% (85) -15.89 (98)

I-A medians 52.34% (58) 43.55% (58) -7.10 (58) </PRE>

Scholarships



The U.S. Department of Education requries that colleges must award the same proportion of aid (within one percentage point) to female athletes as there are women participating in varsity sports. <PRE> Percent Portion of School female scholarship Difference athletes budget

Baylor 34.04% (99) 35.13% (103) +1.09 (42)

Houston 36.30% (88) 40.77% (55) +4.47 (17)

North Texas 41.64% (56) 44.66% (18) +3.02 (29)

Rice 29.61% (110) 31.55% (110) +1.94 (37)

SMU 41.11% (59) 40.03% (65) -1.08 (63)

TCU 33.18% (103) 38.52% (79) +5.34 (11)

Texas 47.60% (12) 37.21% (87) -10.39(109)

Texas A&M 49.76% (5) 45.05% (14) -4.71 (93)

Texas Tech 36.67% (83) 37.53% (84) +0.85 (44)

UTEP 38.60% (74) 42.05% (35) +3.45 (27)

I-A median 41.37% (58) 40.49% (58) -.70 (58) </PRE>

Coaching salaries



Title IX does not mandate that coaches of women's and men's teams be paid the same, but information submitted under the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act shows that women's salaries lag significantly behind men's. <PRE>

Total Total coaching Women's Salaries for salary budget portion of School women's coaches (Millions) budget

Baylor $ 896,509 (55) $ 2.6 million (72) 34.05% (43)

Houston $ 769,855 (71) $ 3 million (54) 25.87% (99)

North Texas $ 482,902 (104) $ 1.4 million (110) 33.73% (48)

Rice $ 716,380 (79) $ 2.4 million (77) 29.76% (74)

SMU $ 911,580 (53) $ 2.6 million (75) 35.62% (30)

TCU $ 787,698 (70) $ 3 million (55) 26,60% (91)

Texas $ 2.2 million (4) $ 7.1 million (5) 30.39% (70)

Texas A&M $ 1.4 million (16) $ 5.0 million (11) 27.21% (89)

Texas Tech $ 1.2 million (29) $ 4.1 million (18) 28.60% (82)

UTEP $ 528,622 (100) $ 1.7 million (101) 31.67 (57)

I-A medians $ 860,626 (58) $ 2.9 million (58) 31.46% (58) </PRE>



Operating expenses



Although Title IX guidelines do not designate how much money colleges should spend on women's sports, schools are required to provide such information through the Department of Education's Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act. <PRE> Women's All team Total athletic operating operating Women's expenses budget budget portion School (Millions) (Millions) (Millions) of budget

Baylor $ 4.3 (55) $ 13.7 (60) $ 20.7 (60) 31.64% (40)

Houston $ 3.2 (78) $ 11 (77) $ 17.6 (73) 29.22% (71)

North Texas $ 1.8 (108) $ 5.4 (112) $ 8.3 (109) 32.84% (31)

Rice $ 3.7 (68) $ 12.5 (66) $ 18 (69) 29.22% (67)

SMU $ 4.9 (44) $ 14.7 (55) $ 17.5 (74) 33.43% (27)

TCU $ 4 (60) $ 13.1 (62) $ 17.9 (70) 30.23% (57)

Texas $ 7.4 (14) $ 25.1 (16) $ 47.4 (3) 29.64% (63)

Texas A&M $ 9.2 (8) $ 29.5 (8) $ 30.7 (32) 31.25% (47)

Texas Tech $ 4.3 (54) $ 17.2 (45) $ 24.8 (50) 25.19% (99)

UTEP $ 2.5 (96) $ 7.9 (88) $ 10.5 (102) 31.83% (39)

I-A median $ 4.1 (58) $ 13.9 (58) $ 21.9 (58) 30.09% (58)

</PRE>

GRAPHIC: Graphs: 1. The changing face of sports (color, TEXT); 2. Title IX by the numbers (p. 23, b/w, TEXT); Photo: 3. Jennifer Mefford of Lake Jackson hopes her daughter, Madison, benefits from her role in Title IX enforcement. Mefford sued in 1992 when Colorado State University dropped women's softball(2 STAR) (p. 1, color); 1-2. Houston Chronicle, 3. Smiley N. Pool / Chronicle

TYPE: Series

LOAD-DATE: June 25, 2002