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UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

When university officials decided in 1989 to take a look at how the athletic department could better comply with Title IX, they did an appropriate thing: They formed a bunch of teams.

There was the Resources for Women in Athletics Committee, the Title IX Proportionality Committee, the Presidential Working Group on Title IX, and the Department of Athletics Special Budget Committee.

In 1994, the school produced a gender equity plan that eventually added a women's rowing team, increased athletic scholarships for women, and improved facilities for women's teams. Today women make up 53 percent of the undergraduate students but 42 percent of the athletes. They receive 38 percent of athletic scholarships.

The school intends to have two more women's sports fully funded by 1998, among other measures.

"We are going to continue to adhere to the process of assessing the interests of our students," said Craig Littlepage, senior associate athletic director.

Virginia's women's teams—particularly soccer, lacrosse and basketball—have been successful on a national level in recent years, which has helped build support.

Perhaps the most important example of that support comes not in the crowds the women's teams draw for their home games but through the fundraising efforts of the Virginia Student Aid Foundation, the athletic department's primary fundraising arm for scholarships.

That organization has committed itself to raising the revenue necessary for the school to better fund its female athletes.

"They looked at the total program in an effort to fully fund more women's teams, as well as maintain the money on the men's side," Littlepage said. Thus, Virginia has been able to avoid cutting into men's programs.

Still, the school has a ways to go in meeting the proportionality test.

When that fact is mentioned, however, Virginia administrators can grow testy. One pointed out that Virginia Tech's female undergraduate population is just 40 percent, making it easier for the Hokies to reach proportionality.

College rivalries, it seems, do not end on the playing fields.

© Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company

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