Thirty years after passing in Congress, Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments remains under fire as one of the most controversial topics in college sports. Long hailed as the legislation responsible for the advancement of women's athletics, Title IX is now suffering at the hands of embittered men convinced they're being shafted in the name of women's equity.
Lawsuits, consistent complaints a,nd the collapse of wrestling and gymnastics programs in universities nationwide have prompted the Bush administration to assemble the Commission on Opportunity in Athletics. This Commission has been established to reexamine the structure of Title IX and to investigate, as described by Secretary of Education Rodney Paige, the possible "questions of fairness for men's teams" that have resulted. While across the country, the heads of male athletic directors nod in agreement with Paige's response to testosterone-driven whining, the reality of the sports equity problem is being overlooked and the efficacy of Title IX is threatened.
Among the supporters of the Bush Commission is Pomona-Pitzer's own Charles Katsiaficas, athletic director since 1999. Though Katsiaficas denies the existence of inequity between the sexes in P-P's athletic department, he nevertheless believes that Title IX might benefit from a reevaluation. Katsiaficas's position regarding the functions of Title IX, both on campus and on a national scale, reflects a surprising level of ignorance. Title IX's supposed crime lies only in its excavation of an ever-pervading discriminatory attitude in athletics. Athletic directors, coaches and players who suggest the need for legislative reform before condemning obvious male-centric department leadership are simply contributing to an already problematic situation.
To Coach Katsiaficas's credit, Pomona-Pitzer stands in excellent compliance with Title IX requirements. The multi-faceted legislation mandates that college athletic departments meet at least one of three criteria: having the same proportion of women on sports teams as there are female undergrads, having a "history and continuing practice of expanding opportunities for women," or proving that the interests and abilities of women on campus are being fully and effectively accommodated. Though Pomona-Pitzer has not yet reached the 2% target rate needed to pass Title IX's test of proportionality, the introduction of varsity softball in the mid-90s and the current development of varsity women's lacrosse are examples of Sagehen compliance with two of the three Title IX requirements.
To call Pomona-Pitzer athletics a Title IX success story does not mean that the department leadership necessarily deserves praise, however. In a liberal and well-endowed Division III school, the pressures for Title IX compliance are minimal; equality is normative and often taken for granted.
Big universities, on the other hand, are dependent on the "sacred cow" sports of men's basketball and football for revenue and feel the pressure of Title IX intensely. Ultimately, the choice that larger athletic departments face between spending money on developing women's programs and saving money by cutting more 'disposable' men's programs leads to an obvious result that hurts both male and female athletes. Title IX, unable to compensate for discriminatory attitudes, takes the blame for them instead.
In truth, many current accusations against the amendment stem from a pro-male bias, and not from flaws in the legislation. Universities could easily pacify complaints from suffering men's programs if departments were willing to re-distribute the funds poured into basketball and football. Programs politely known as Olympic sports (swimming, tennis, track and field, gymnastics, etc) are losing a battle to male leadership that refuses to touch their sacred cows. Programs could blossom with money generated by shaving a mere 15 spots from enormous 110+ football rosters. Yet the stubborn preoccupation of athletic directors and school boards with male glory sports stagnates the development of more 'minor' sports for both sexes.
Coach Katsiaficas maintains that no men's programs at Pomona-Pitzer have ever suffered from the impact of Title IX. "Inequity for men is not a problem here," Katsiaficas insists. "We've chosen to work as hard as we can to take the other route by emerging women's sports, rather than dropping men's sports. But it is a firm reality for many schools that in order to accommodate the legislation, men's programs must be dropped."
Interestingly, Katsiaficas, when asked to describe his understanding of the legislation, had to read a definition of Title IX compliance from a page in front of him. His belief that dropping men's programs is a firm reality, and that Title IX may need reform, further demonstrates a possibly unsettling level of ignorance in Pomona-Pitzer's athletic department.
Though Sagehen sports may escape the heat of Title IX controversy, a closer examination of Pomona-Pitzer's athletic department reveals the inability of the law to combat the heart of discrimination. P-P, boasting new softball facilities, a balance of men and women's teams (10 each), and the addition of a varsity lacrosse program, nevertheless suffers from attitudes of chauvinism.
How else to explain the fact that women's volleyball practices were forced out of Voelkel gym twice a week so that male basketball players could play unorganized pick-up in the nicer, larger gym during their off-season? Why has the athletic department shown hesitancy towards hiring female coaches for men's teams? Why has the men's basketball team taken more overnight trips than the women's basketball team in recent years? These may be minor issues in the face of more unsettling examples of discrimination at other schools; Coach Katsiaficas, in numerous instances, has effectively demonstrated his dedication and commitment to the Title IX doctrine. However, to assume that Pomona-Pitzer athletics is in the clear would be dangerous and would open the door to inequity. Only by addressing the underriding reality of the Title IX issue will we manage to protect the legislation from false accusation and honor its mission of equality.
