On March 17, 2005, the Department of Education announced a new guideline for collegiate compliance with Title IX in a letter that was quietly sent to educational institutions in the United States.
This "letter of clarification" stated that, "a college or university could be deemed in compliance with Title IX if a survey is e-mailed to current students to determine if their interests and abilities are being met." A non-response is considered a lack of interest.
The last provision has riled many in the world of female athletics, including Josie Harper, director of Dartmouth Athletics and Recreation. She claims this survey method is simply "a way for those who do not take Title IX seriously to skirt around the real issues by using a vehicle that facilitates getting the answers they want to get -- by process of lack of responses."
Elise Morrison '07, starting center for the Dartmouth women's basketball team, hails from a family that includes several female collegiate athletes. She believes that, had the letter of clarification existed when Title IX was first introduced, women's sports would not have made the progress they have over the past 30 years.
"There is no way that the patriarchal sports program at the University of Michigan would ever have developed and supported women's sports programs if they had not been forced to comply with Title IX. My mother was a swimmer there at the introduction of the Title IX and the pool had no women's locker room. Obviously, the message was that only men could swim competitively in college," Morrison said. "Now, if she had been surveyed regarding her 'interest' in swimming, how much effect would that have had in developing a women's program? I feel like the administration still wouldn't put any money into the women's program."
The Title IX Amendment of the Higher Education -- also known as the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act -- was instituted in 1972 to prohibit sex discrimination in federally funded education programs.
Under the guidelines set by the law, a school that complies with Title IX must meet one of three rules -- the percentage of male and female athletes are substantially proportionate to the percentages of male and female student enrolled, the institution has a history of continuing practice of expanding athletic opportunities for the underrepresented sex or the athletics program fully and effectively accommodates the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex.
On June 6, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case of National Wrestling Coaches Association vs. Department of Education, which claimed that Title IX is responsible for schools cutting men's athletic programs, without comment.
On June 22, the 33rd anniversary of Title IX, politicians, women's organization representatives, athletes and women's athletics enthusiasts joined in Washington D.C. to honor the anniversary. On the same day, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and 140 other Democrats mailed a letter to President Bush demanding him to withdraw the letter of clarification.
The letter, drafted by Pelosi and others, states that, "we strongly believe that the use of survey alone, let alone an e-mail survey, cannot accurately determine student athletic interest or ability.... Under the new clarification, the department will allow schools to simply interpret a lack of response to the survey as evidence of lack of interest."
In the pre-Title IX era, female athletes seldom received athletic scholarships in college. There were few full-time coaches for female athletic teams and meager funds were available for uniforms, transportation and equipment. The implementation of Title IX in 1972 paved the way for future female athletes on the college level by mandating that schools receiving federal funding must provide equal opportunities for both females and males.
Title IX not only applies to sports, but also pertains to other aspects of federally funded education programs such as access to higher education, career education, education for pregnant and parenting students and employment.
After the passage of Title IX, women's participation in intercollegiate sports expanded five-fold. Fewer than 32,000 women participated in college sports before Title IX; now more than 150,000 do.
Despite the advancements that Title IX achieved for female sports programs, women's athletic programs still lag behind men's programs. Approximately 53 percent of students at Division I schools are women, but only around 36 percent of the athletic operating budgets and 32 percent of recruitment budgets are allocated to female sports.
Supporters of the new e-mail survey claim that the survey allows educational institutions more flexibility in their budgets and will prevent men's wrestling, track and gymnastics programs from being cut. However, others say that this new guidance is clearly inviting schools to evade their Title IX responsibilities and will fade out one of the most important civil rights achievements of all times.
