Title IX Essay, Research Paper

A Brief Overview of Title IX and how it effects both Men and Women Title IX of

the Education Amendments of 1972 is the ?Federal law which prohibits sex

discrimination against the students and employees of any educational agency that

receives Federal financial assistance?(Mathews I-1). From June 23, 1972 all

the way up until today, there has been a constant struggle as to what

gender?equality actually is. Title IX has had a profound effect on both male

and female students on college campuses all across the country, because as it

gives one group of students opportunities, it, in a sense, is responsible for

stealing away those same opportunities from another group of students. There may

be an attempt to achieve equality in college athletics based solely on gender,

but this attempt may actually be creating inequality especially in regard to the

number of athletic opportunities, which are available for student-athletes. The

effects of Title IX on male student athletes are very noticeable in that in

order to create an equal number of scholarship opportunities for women, men may

have to give up their scholarships. An example of this is the lawsuit of Tom

Caruso v. University of Arkansas-Fayetteville on May 27, 1993 (Curtis 6). Mr.

Caruso was a member of the Universities? diving team, and their decision to

discontinue the diving program in an effort to comply with the Title IX

guidelines, was definitely unfair to him. Another example of inequality where

male athletes are concerned is the decision that the Southeastern Conference

made in 1995 that has required each of its member institutions to provide a

minimum of two more women?s sports than men?s sports (Curtis 2). By

requiring there to be two more women?s sports than men?s sports, men are

losing out on two additional opportunities to participate in intercollegiate

athletics. Many colleges and universities are doing away with non-revenue

generating men?s sports such as tennis, soccer, and track in an effort to find

the additional funds to support the extra women?s sports. The female student

athlete population can definitely feel the effects and benefits of Title IX as

well. There are women?s sports programs seemingly popping up every day.

Schools that basically ignored female athletics in the past are now offering

women?s gymnastics, golf, volleyball, water polo, etc. Every single female

sport that is being added is not only providing opportunities for the women as

athletes right now, but also the opportunities to be involved in their specific

sport when their playing career is over. Whether they look for positions as

coaches, athletic trainers, or administrators, opportunities are definitely on

the horizon whereas before, they had a very limited future in regards to the

number of positions available, and due to the ?lack of parity between male and

female salaries in those positions? (Kovacs 16). Women may have more of a

variety of sports to choose to participate in now, but the total number of

scholarship opportunities is still way below the opportunities given to the men.

Also, there are quite a few institutions that are ?dragging their feet? when

it comes to compliance with Title IX. The promise of more opportunities is out

there, but it seems to take a while for those promises to materialize. A huge

myth that has circulated from the beginning of the Title IX struggles is that

football programs will become extinct if girls and women are given the

opportunity to play sports. Unfortunately, the gender equity debate has boiled

down to the myth that girls are not as interested in playing sports as boys. And

even if they are, the male-dominated sports society doesn?t want to add more

sports teams for girls, because they are in fear that this will cause them to

lose their favorite college football team. The myth that women?s volleyball or

track will cause football an untimely death is absurd. If for no other apparent

reason, football is the ?cash cow? at most universities and without the

money that football programs bring into the athletics department budgets, not

many other sports could survive. All that women want is the opportunity to play

sports, not the opportunity to take sports away from men. By giving women the

opportunity to participate in college athletics, men are having opportunities

taken away from them. If you want girls softball and gymnastics, then we are

going to have to take away your boys lacrosse team. The girls shouldn?t really

be blamed here, because all they want is an opportunity to participate, just

like the men have done for decades. Women deserve the opportunity, as do men, to

not only participate in college sports as athletes, but also to participate in

college down the road as an administrator or coach. Once again, the question

arises: In the attempt to create equality based solely on gender, how can you

keep from creating inequality? It?s a shame that one gender may have to suffer

so that the other can attempt to have ?equality?.

Curtis, Mary C., Dr. Gender Equity in Sports. 26 June 2000. The University of

Iowa Women?s Intercollegiate Athletics Department Research on Title IX

Lawsuits and Voluntary Acts. *http://bailiwick.lib.uiowa.edu/ge/Title_IX.html.*

Kovacs, Frank W. Title IX: Parity of Coaches? Salaries for Male and Female

Athletic Teams. Washington, D.C. National Education Association. 1979. Mathews,

Martha. Implementing Title IX and Attaining Sex Equity: A Workshop Package for

Postsecondary Educators. Washington, D.C. Resource Center on Sex Roles in

Education National Foundation for the Improvement of Education. September 1978.