Go to Virginia Tech Athletics Section
Go to Sports Section
VIRGINIA TECH
By Angie WattsSpecial to The Washington Post
Sunday, April 27, 1997; Page D6
The recent Supreme Court ruling isn't the first that Virginia Tech's athletic department has heard of Title IX. Virginia Tech settled a class-action lawsuit in April 1995 that was filed on behalf of 12 female students who claimed the university discriminated against women by offering them fewer opportunities to participate in varsity sports than men.
When the suit was filed on Jan. 25, 1994, there were 11 varsity sports formen, seven for women. The settlement ensured that more money and more programs would become available for female athletes.
Virginia Tech officials say they had adopted an expansion plan for women's athletics a year earlier. The plan, approved by the university's board of visitors in May 1994, was designed to bring Virginia Tech into compliance with Title IX by 1999.
In accordance with both the plan and the settlement, there have been three women's varsity sports added at Virginia Tech: soccer in 1993, lacrosse in 1995 and softball in 1996. The additions bring the number of varsity sports for women to 10, while the number of male varsity sports remains 11.
Additionally, the number of scholarships offered to women has also increased. At the time the lawsuit was filed, only about 20 percent of the athletic scholarships were available for women, despite Virginia Tech's undergraduate enrollment being about 40 percent female. In accordance with the settlement, those percentages needed to be within three to five percentage points of one another by 1996.
They are.
The university's current undergraduate admissions office lists 23,268 students enrolled at Virginia Tech. Of that figure, 58.5 percent are male, 41.5 percent female; 38 percent of the athletic scholarships in 1996-97 were given to women, 62 percent to men.
Next year, the number of athletic scholarships for women will increase from 85.8 to 103. The number of athletic scholarships for men will remain at 137.5.
© Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company
