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Last Monday the Supreme Court refused to review Brown University's petition to overturn a lower court's decision that upheld the guidelines of Title IX. Supporters hailed the high court's move as a confirmation that educational institutions must provide women equitable opportunities for athletic growth no matter what the cost.
Adopted in 1972, Title IX was the impetus for many schools to begin offering women athletic scholarships. But growth at times has been slow and on occasion it has taken lawsuits, formal complaints and an NCAA mandate for schools to move things forward.
A study by the Chronicle of Higher Education showed that women composed 37 percent of college athletes in the 1995-96 school year, up from 29 percent in 1991-92. But the same study showed that only 28 of the NCAA's 303 Division I schools (9 percent) had roughly the same percentage of female athletes in their athletic programs as they have female students in their undergraduate populations.
To comply with Title IX, a university must meet one of the federal government's three criteria. The first requires an institution to have roughly the same percentage of female athletes as it has female undergraduates; the second requires a "continuing history" of expanding athletic opportunities for the underrepresented gender; the third requires a full accommodation of the athletic "interests and abilities" of its student body.
The tests have not always proven to be objective, however. If a school can prove its female students are not as interested in athletics as its male students are, it does not have to have the same percentage of female athletes as it has female undergraduates. This at times has placed student-athletes and administrators at odds and essentially was the debate in the Brown case.
On the whole, athletic directors say creating new opportunities for female athletes is a worthy goal. But finding money to grow women's programs can be exceedingly difficult.
Local universities are no different, each facing the conflicting demands of Title IX and limited resources. The following profiles capture that status of gender equity in sports on area campuses.
© Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company
