BODY: Title IX turns 30 Sunday.
So how is it possible that many schools are out of compliance with the civil
rights law so many years later?
Part of
the answer can be found in Title IX's history of delay and
dispute. There was little enforcement of the law in its first 20
years.
"A statute that was out of sight
was also, to the public, out of mind," says Ivy League Commissioner Jeffrey H.
Orleans, a former civil rights lawyer at the Department of Health, Education and
Welfare.
Title IX is no
longer out of sight: During the last 10 years, there has been increased
enforcement and a series of federal court rulings.
One of the most important was handed down in 1996, when a
federal appeals court ruled that Brown University had discriminated against
female athletes by dropping women's teams, even though Brown carried more
women's teams than most schools in the country.
A quick look at three decades of Title IX:
1972: President Nixon signs Title IX of the Education Amendments of
1972 on June 23. The law is so broadly worded it will need written regulations
before it can be enforced.
1974: In July,
Congress passes an amendment directing Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) to
issue Title IX regulations, including ones for athletics. In November, the
forerunner of what now is the National Women's Law Center files suit against HEW
for failure to issue regulations and enforce Title IX.
1975: In June, HEW issues regulations prohibiting sex
discrimination in athletics and gives colleges three years to comply. On July
15, Sen. John Tower, D-Texas, reintroduces an amendment he tried a year earlier
that would exempt football from Title IX; it fails again. The regulations become
effective July 21, although they lack sufficient detail.
1977-78: HEW puts Title IX athletic complaints on hold
until further policy interpretation of the regulations.
1979: On Dec. 11, HEW issues a final policy
interpretation. It includes the three-part test that will be central to much of
the controversy concerning Title IX in the years ahead. Schools need to pass one
part of the test to be in compliance. The first part says the number of athletes
from each sex at a school should be roughly equivalent to enrollment
percentages. The second prong says a school should show a history and continuing
practice of adding women's sports. The third part says a school should be able
to show that the athletic interests and abilities of women on its campus have
been fully and effectively accommodated.
1980: In April, the first case challenging sex discrimination in an
entire college program is filed and leads to 1988 court-ordered settlement in
Haffer v. Temple University. In May, the Department of Education (DOE) replaces
HEW and reissues HEW's Title IX policies as its own.
1981: National Women's Law Center files a motion to hold
DOE in contempt for putting athletic complaints on hold pending issuance of
further policy.
1982: AIAW, which had been
the governing body of women's collegiate sports, folds after the NCAA begins
offering women's championships. Louisiana Tech wins the first NCAA women's
basketball championship; Rutgers wins the last in AIAW.
1984: Supreme Court rules in Grove City v. Bell that Title
IX does not apply to programs that do not directly receive federal aid,
essentially ending its application to athletics.
1988: Overriding a veto by President Reagan, Congress passes the Civil
Rights Restoration Act, which mandates that civil rights law applies to all
operations of any school that gets federal funds. This effectively supercedes
Grove City.
1992: Supreme Court allows
monetary damages to be awarded in Title IX cases in Franklin v. Gwinnett County.
This opens the door to more suits by female athletes. Such suits are filed
against Auburn, Colorado State and Brown.
1996: In January, DOE issues a clarification of the 1979 policy
interpretation. Much of it revolves around the three-part test. Proponents of
Title IX say the clarification does not revise the three-part test or change
standards for Title IX compliance but merely gives examples of how the
three-part test can be applied. In November, Brown University loses after trying
to make the case that women do not have as much interest in playing sports as
men. Cohen v. Brown upholds DOE's regulations, including the three-part test.
1999: Cal State-Bakersfield loses a claim
that capping the number of athletes on men's teams is reverse discrimination.
2002: In January, a coalition of coaches led
by the National Wrestling Coaches Association files suit challenging the
underlying regulations of Title IX. It charges that the three-part test is a
"quota system." In May, the Justice Department asks that the suit be dismissed
on technical grounds. This week the plaintiffs ask the court for summary
judgment. The plaintiffs want the 1979 three-part test and 1996 clarification
vacated.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO, B/W, 1972
Immaculata College photo; PHOTO, B/W, 1973 ABC Sports; PHOTO, B/W, File photo by
Tony Duffy, Getty Images; PHOTO, B/W, 1974 Reuters photo; PHOTO, B/W, 1984 photo
by H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY; PHOTO, B/W, File photo by Robert Hanashiro, USA
TODAY; PHOTO, B/W, 1982 AP photo
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