By Danny Horne staff reporter TCU ranks near the bottom in compliance with several Title IX regulations, based on the numbers from the 1998-1999 academic year released in the April 7 issue of The Chronicle For Higher Education. Colleges and universities from across the country were contacted by The Chronicle to record statistics for participation, recruiting budgets, coaching salaries, scholarships and operating expenses as pertaining to women's athletics. The report is based on the 114 schools that participate in Division 1-A football. Title IX was developed in 1972 in an effort to achieve gender equity in schools. TCU ranked 113 in Division 1-A in the percentage of female athlete participation. Under Title IX, schools are supposed to have a relatively equal proportion of female athletes to the proportion of female undergraduates. TCU has 3,638 female undergraduate students who account for 60 percent of the total undergraduate enrollment. To be compliant under Title IX, the number of female athletes should then be 60 percent of all athletes. In fact, female athletes made up just 33 percent of all TCU athletes, which is 27 percent lower than what Title IX mandates. Athletics Director Eric Hyman said the numbers can be misleading. "There are circumstances - circumstances we can't really control - that affect those numbers," Hyman said. "Certain specific numbers like the percentage of female undergraduates and the number of members of the football team play a role in that report." Chancellor Michael Ferrari said the report is disappointing but added the situation has not reached a panic state. "Any institution with a football program and such a high percentage of female students will always produce an unfavorable profile," Ferrari said. "We are making progress, and we know that. But we can always do more." The report shows most schools compliant under participation regulations are military institutions like the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy which have a higher percentage of male students. "That's definitely part of the problem," Hyman said. "When I was at Miami (Ohio) we actually put a ceiling on the number of male students we would have. For example, the baseball team could be given a 30-man ceiling. We can't do that at TCU because we have to attract more male students because of how high our female enrollment is. "Athletics is something that entices male students to TCU. If we put a ceiling on that, we aren't helping the university in that sense." Roland Ingram, head coach of the women's tennis team, said TCU might never have equal men's and women's participation, but he is not worried. "I think we are represented as well as we can be," Ingram said. "As long as we have sports that high school students can play in college, we should be all right." Ingram added that fully funding scholarships is very important for women's athletics and Title IX compliance. "When I got here 16 years ago, we obviously weren't fully funded," Ingram said. "I wouldn't have had (seniors) Daria Zoldakova and Lucie Dvorakova in previous years because there just wasn't enough money." Ferrari said bringing a softball program to TCU would help with the proportions. "We have begun to look into a softball program, and I asked that we get a plan promptly," Ferrari said. "The addition of the extra sport not only will help with participation numbers but also helps with recruiting proportions and operating expenses." The report showed TCU ranked 102 in proportions of recruiting expenses. TCU allocates 21 percent of its total recruiting budget to women's sports. According to the report, Division 1-A colleges and universities allocate an average of 28 percent to women's sports. In comparison, SMU ranked 19th. Marcy Girton, associate athletics director for compliance, said TCU's 1998-1999 percentage will no longer be applicable. "It should change because we are now fully funding women's sports, which means female athletes can now receive full scholarships," Girton said. "We now have more people to pursue because we have more scholarships to offer, and therefore, more money. It just means that we can now allocate more money to the budget." According to the report, TCU was ranked in the top 25 in allocation of funds from the scholarship budget. Female athletes at TCU received 33.4 percent of the total scholarship budget. The Chronicle fixed the numbers so multi-sport athletes would not be counted twice. "With the percentage of female athletes being about 30 percent, having a 3.4 percent difference is very good," Girton said. "If our scholarship allocations stood at 27 percent, then we would be under by 3 percent and that would be a problem." Title IX does not specify percentages or dollar amounts for total operating expenses, but TCU ranked 103rd on the list, having allocated 23.2 percent. SMU was 37th, having allocated 31.5 percent. Hyman said the operating budgets for TCU are expected to increase substantially from the 1999-2000 year to next year. "We think we could see a 34 percent increase in operating budget for women's athletics," Hyman said. "The numbers aren't final and don't include scholarship funding, but it is an astronomical increase. We have begun to do the things necessary to improve our standing." Hyman said he has no plans to just accept the numbers as they stand. "I can't just accept it," Hyman said. "We always have to do more. We can increase participation, but it will be tough. We now have a good idea as to where we are. The next step is to examine what to do about it."
Danny Horne
Women shouldn't participate in sports because they could hurt themselves. Women don't really have the strength or competitiveness to be athletes. While these statements are surprising, it is more shocking that these comments weren't exclusively made in the Middle Ages but rather in the 1960s and 1970s. Now attitudes about women in sports have changed largely because of Title IX, the 1972 federal law that outlawed discrimination on the basis of sex in school programs, including athletics. Under Title IX, male and female athletes are expected to have equal access to equipment and practice facilities, the same quality coaches and, at the college level, scholarship money proportional to participation. Even though Title IX has achieved a lot, the goal of it has still not been realized. There isn't gender equality in sports. The changes that Title IX spurred have been dramatic. The average number of teams for women has increased to 8.33 in 1996 for Division I schools. In 1972, only 8 percent of high school athletes were female, but now that figure is almost 40 percent. Now, women get a much larger share of the athletic budget, including scholarships. While Title IX applies to schools, its effects can be felt far beyond that. Because Title IX has encouraged women to play sports in middle school, high school and college, now there are female athletes prepared to compete professionally. It is doubtful that the WNBA would have ever been created without the support of Title IX. In turn, women are encouraged to participate in college sports more because their opportunities don't end in college. Now, female athletes in middle school and high school have Rebecca Lobo or Mia Hamm as role models, rather than exclusively male figures. According to the Women's Sports Foundation Web site, male athletes still receive $179 million more than female athletes each year at the college level. The unequal emphasis on men's sports is still evident in several areas, including scheduling of games, recruiting and scholarships. How could such inequalities still exist after nearly 30 years of a federal law outlawing discrimination? One reason is that Title IX compliance standards are almost laughable. Institutions have to meet one of the following criteria: 1) that opportunities for males and females must be "substantially proportionate" to the undergraduate enrollment or 2) that the institution demonstrates a "continuing history of expansion" in opportunities for the underrepresented sex or 3) that the institution shows that the "interests and abilities" of the underrepresented sex are accommodated by the present program. If an institution is expanding opportunities for women, however slowly, is that good enough? Because Title IX has necessitated dramatic changes to athletic programs nationwide, it is understandable that schools should be given time to comply with the standards. But it is reasonable to assert that some schools are using the flexibility of Title IX compliance to delay making real progress in gender equity. While TCU is in compliance with Title IX because of the three different criteria, are we really doing well? According to The Chronicle of Higher Education's Web site, TCU is the second-worst school in Division I-A (out of 114 colleges) for women's participation in sports. TCU is 19th worst in women's salaries (26.06 percent) as a proportion of the whole salary budget. TCU is 13th worst in percentage of the recruiting budget spent on women's recruiting (21.06 percent). TCU is 12th worst for women's expenses (23.21 percent) compared with the total operating budget. These figures are abysmal for a university that professes to embrace equality. Some of the explanations for TCU's compliance need to be examined. According to some, the football program is what hinders further Title IX compliance. Under Title IX, athletic scholarships must be given to women in proportion with the undergraduate population. The problem with this is that usually the football program takes up a huge number of the men's scholarships and sometimes other men's teams, such as soccer at TCU, are not on scholarship. Because no women's scholarships are usually used for football, the women's soccer team can be on scholarship. Some people have said football should be an exception to Title IX. But the Women's Sports Foundation Web site has a good point: "Football players are boys - not a third sex. The law says you just can't pick a sport in which boys play and girls don't and say it doesn't count." Even though a few women are playing football now, it is almost totally male. While it is sad that the men's soccer team isn't funded the way the women's is, it doesn't have to be that way. Under the watch of Title IX, we have seen women's interest in sports skyrocket. Although there may not be equal interest in sports for men and women now, in a few years that is possible. But if we don't become diligent in our efforts to constantly look for ways to involve women in sports, of course there won't be as many women participating. While Title IX has greatly benefited women, it does not go far enough. Title IX compliance must be stricter so that actual gender equity, not aspirations of it, is demonstrated.
Copy Desk Chief Tara Pope is a senior religion
major from Longview.
Title IX? More like Title Whine. When is everyone going to wake up and realize that as much as we want women's sports to be equal to men's, it isn't going to happen. Not only is Title IX not working the way it was designed for women's sports, it is hurting men's sports in the process. Title IX was developed to create gender equality in sports, but almost 30 years later, 91 percent of Division I-A schools are still not in compliance with the "substantial proportionality" criteria. This means that the number of athletic scholarships given to males and females should be in direct proportion to the undergraduate enrollment by each sex at the school. Attendance at private universities, however, is predominately female. This virtually makes it impossible for schools such as TCU to be in compliance when 85 male scholarships are given out to football alone. Many colleges, especially private universities, simply cannot afford to bring the funding of their women's programs up to the levels of their men's. So what do they do? Most schools have chosen to cut the funding from their men's programs and give it to their women's in a process dubbed "robbing Peter to pay Paula." In fact, NCAA reports show that from 1995 to 1997, Division I and II schools added 5,800 female athletes but cut 20,900 males. It was never the intention of those who created Title IX to take away from men's sports, but that is exactly what is happening. Men's sports are being dropped at an alarming rate to make the schools' Title IX numbers more compliant. That is not right. Title IX was created to allow women the same opportunities as men. One of the main arguments against Title IX compliance is that 80 percent of college football programs lose money each year, but schools continue to pump millions of dollars into them. Those that argue that say money going to the football program could be used to fund other sports. The fact is that although most football programs lose money, the exposure they bring to the school is invaluable. A four-year study at Oklahoma State University shows that freshman application rates were directly proportionate to the seasons the school's football team had. When the team had a winning season and played in a bowl game, more students applied and the opposite also true. One good thing that has come out of this process is that participation by girls in sports is up tremendously. Young girls are being encouraged to play sports and are being given the opportunity to participate at almost all levels. Sports benefit children by giving them confidence and self-esteem while teaching them valuable lessons in life. With the advent of the WNBA, are we really providing our female athletes with a place to fulfill their dreams, or are we just leading them on? Pull the plug already. Women's professional leagues have proven financially disastrous in the past and will again in the future. This is not to say that women cannot play the sport because, in most cases, the basis and the fundamentals are there. The excitement that men's sports provide is missing. I watch basketball to see slam dunks, not perfectly executed bounce passes. Title IX is great in theory. It has provided the necessary support that women dearly needed and created a whole new generation of females excited about sports. It has helped to merge the line between what we see as masculine and feminine behavior. It turned the tomboy into a hero, but it needs to be changed.
Chris Gibson is a junior broadcast journalism
major from Mesquite. |
| The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |