In the press release announcing the Commission, Paige stated: “…recent complaints, however, have raised questions of fairness for men's teams.” Paige said some college administrators have complained that the Department has failed to provide clear guidance on how to comply with Title IX, while other groups allege that ineffective enforcement of Title IX has caused men's teams to be eliminated.

As stated in Commission documents, members will focus on “current Federal standards for measuring equal opportunity for men and women and boys and girls to participate in athletics under Title IX, whether those standards should be revised, and if so, how the standards should be revised. The Commission will also recommend other steps that might be taken to improve the effectiveness of Title IX and to maintain and build upon the extraordinary progress that has resulted from its passage 30 years ago.”

In our opinion, the primary purpose of the Commission is to weaken Title IX. Membership is dominated by NCAA Division I institution representatives (institutions still not in compliance with Title IX 30 years after the passage of the law) and proponents of the position that women are not as interested in sports as men so institutions should not be required to provide equal participation opportunities as currently required under Title IX.

The Secretary specifically asked the Commission to address the following questions with the notes in italics representing my comments regarding the motivation behind the question:

1. Are Title IX standards for assessing equal opportunity in athletics working to promote opportunities for male and female athletes?

The fact that some schools have discontinued some men’s sports because of budgetary challenges and changes in student sport interest appears to be of greater concern than the fact that males have 30% more participation opportunities than females and Title IX compliance has still not been achieved.

2. Is there adequate Title IX guidance that enables colleges and school districts to know what is expected of them and to plan for an athletic program that effectively meets the needs and interests of their students?

Volumes of Title IX guidance materials, prepared and disseminated by the Office of Civil Rights, clearly explain the requirements of the law. The courts have upheld all of these interpretations and provisions. The Administration appears to be seeking to change Title IX legislation toward the end of instructing the courts to enforce a lesser standard.

3. Is further guidance or other steps needed at the junior and senior high school levels, where the availability or absence of opportunities will critically affect the prospective interests and abilities of student athletes when they reach college age?

Male athletes are receiving 1.1 million more participation opportunities than females at the high school level. Additionally, there are millions of girls participating in youth sports whose interests are not being met by high school programs. Strong Title IX enforcement rather than further guidance is necessary. Further, there are no high school members on the Commission.

4. How should activities such as cheerleading or bowling factor into the analysis of equitable opportunities?

The OCR has a clear definition of “sport” that specifies when cheerleading or bowling can be counted as a varsity sport under Title IX. One effort to weaken Title IX is to loosen these standards, allowing more schools to count cheerleaders performing at football and basketball games instead of imposing the current requirement of regularly competing against other cheerleading squads. Similarly with bowling, schools want to count recreational clubs as varsity teams versus competitive team sports.

5. How do revenue-producing and large-roster teams affect the provision of equal athletic opportunities?

Proponents of weakening Title IX would like football excluded from computations. It’s been 25 years since this was attempted, Congress having refused to do so four times in the mid-’70s.

6. The Department has heard from some parties that whereas some men athletes will "walk-on" to intercollegiate teams—without athletic financial aid and without having been recruited—women rarely do this. Is this accurate and, if so, what are its implications for Title IX analysis?

Female athletes want to play rather than sit the bench like many walk-on football players. Title IX requires that athletic programs meet the respective and sometimes different needs and interests of male and female athletes. If male athletes want to use their participation opportunities to walk-on as practice-only players on teams and female athletes want sports that meet their playing interest, both those needs should be met and are accommodated under current Title IX interpretations.

7. In what ways do opportunities in other sports venues, such as the Olympics, professional leagues, and community recreation programs, interact with the obligations of colleges and school districts to provide equal athletic opportunity? What are the implications for Title IX?

Some want to state that lower levels of participation by females in recreational sports programs means that women aren’t as interested in sports as men. In fact, recreational sports programs demonstrate lack of funding for program expansion to meet the needs of female students, failure to encourage participation by offering sports of interest to women and/or continuing to give men’s programs preference in use of facilities and resources.

8. Apart from Title IX enforcement, are there other efforts to promote athletic opportunities for male and female students that the Department might support, such as public-private partnerships to support the efforts of schools and colleges in this area?

There is little question that financial excesses in one or two priority men’s sports have created budget crises that have precipitated the discontinuation of some men’s sports instead of belt-tightening to reduce excessive expenditures. If schools fail to exhibit financial responsibility, should gender equity be put “on hold” until new funding sources are identified?

What is the Women’s Sports Foundation Doing?

The Foundation is committed to educating the Commission, elected representatives and the general public about the current status of women’s sports and demonstrating, through research-supported data, that the promise of Title IX is still unrealized and can be realized. The Foundation’s leadership is profoundly concerned that the current misinformation campaign being conducted by extremely conservative groups and embraced by disenfranchised men’s sports teams is misleading the media, the public and our elected representatives.

The Foundation is urging supporters to help fund the Foundation’s efforts in this regard. With regard to public education, research and data analysis alone, the Foundation’s expenditures over the last four months have exceeded $300,000.

The Foundation is preparing position papers, performing research and analyzing data for presentation to the Commission to demonstrate the following:

1. The discontinuation of some men’s sports is related to institutional budget choices and competitive division status and is not required by Title IX. Further, that for every men’s team discontinued, a new men’s team in a different sport has been added with men’s sports showing net gains rather than net losses.

2. The vast majority of institutions who are adding women’s sports opportunities to comply with Title IX are not eliminating men’s sports teams.

3. There are “tiered” funding solutions that will enable athletic programs to maintain current high expenditures on selected men’s and women’s sports while spending less on other men’s and women’s sports without having to drop any sport programs.

4. The current “arms race” in Division I athletic programs is taking resources away from funding broad sport programs. Examples of cost containment reform are being prepared that demonstrate that current revenue-producing sports can maintain their success while increasing their profitability, thereby contributing to the maintenance of other sports in the athletic program.

5. The Office of Civil Rights has failed to enforce Title IX. A majority of high schools and colleges are not in compliance with the law and have no incentives to comply.

How Supporters Can Assist

1. Write a letter to the editor whenever you see an article blaming Title IX for the loss of sports opportunities for men or suggesting that female athletes are not as interested in sports and therefore should receive less than equal opportunity. If you need assistance with data or would like to see sample letters, e-mail the Foundation.

2. Make a financial contribution to the Foundation to help us assemble factual data and educate the public.

3. Educate friends about Title IX and urge them to contact their Congresspersons to make their wishes clear – no change in the Title IX law and stronger enforcement by the Office of Civil Rights. Send them to the Foundation’s Web site and legislative action center where easy-to-send messages are available by clicking on the link below.

4. Attend a public meeting of the Commission to make your voice heard. E-mail us that you are interested in attending and you will be advised of meeting times and locations. The “town meetings” are scheduled as follows: