About 40 UCSD students rallied outside the Wyndham Emerald Hotel on Nov. 20 wearing T-shirts and buttons marked with the slogan, “”save Title IX.”” The rally was held to show a panel of federally appointed commissioners that they support the law, which the commissioners are currently analyzing.
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The commissioners are traveling to cities across the nation to listen to public input on the matter of Title IX. After hearing public input from across the nation, the commissioners will present a report on their findings to U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige.
The Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance coordinated the protest event. The 40 protesters chanted sayings, including, “”Ho ho, hey hey, Title IX has got to stay.”” Students also waved signs that said, “”support women’s sports,”” and, “”demand equality.”” One police officer came to the protest upon request of the hotel due to noise.
Corinne Hart, president of the FMLA, said that the event was successful and participants came from various groups across campus.
Student protesters attended the rally for various reasons. Many of the protesters participated because they believe in the value of the opportunities that Title IX has provided for women and girls.
Former UCSD crew member Amanda Malmquist said that she attended to show support for the work she believes Title IX has done.
“”I think today we take for granted that things are equal, or close to equal, and without Title IX, it wouldn’t be that way at all,”” Malmquist said.
Meghan Lake, an Earl Warren College junior who played tennis in high school, also attended the rally to show her support for Title IX.
“”Title IX has revolutionized the way women’s sports are viewed,”” Lake said, who believes that before Title IX, women’s sports were not taken seriously.
The views of protesters echoed the thoughts of Nicky McCrimmon of the Women’s National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Sparks. McCrimmon spoke at the Cross Cultural Center on Nov. 18 about the benefits of Title IX and the need to keep pushing to fully enforce the law.
McCrimmon spoke about growing up and having to play on boys teams because there were no women’s basketball teams. When she did play on girls’ teams, she said that the boy’s team would have more opportunities to travel and would receive better equipment than the girls.
“”It wasn’t fair to us,”” said McCrimmon, who believes that Title IX needs to continue to be pushed for full enforcement.
Protesters received both positive and negative feedback from passers-by on the street. One man on his way to work told protesters that it is because of Title IX that men’s sports have suffered.
The issue of men’s sports suffering from Title IX was debated before the panel of commissioners.
Economics professor Andrew Zimalist of Smith College argued that Title IX has not financially hurt men’s athletics, but it has been the big budget sports of men’s basketball and football that have been detrimental to some teams.
Zimalist argued before the panel that the best way to save teams from being cut is to change the practice of averaging 85 players on scholarships and 31 walk-ons per National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I football teams to having an average of 60 players. Zimalist said that these types of changes would not be detrimental to a football team and would free enough funds to maintain smaller men’s sports, such as wrestling, that have traditionally been cut.
President of Neinas Sports Services Chuck Neinas countered Zimalist’s argument, saying that football programs should not be changed to accommodate women’s athletics.
“”Just because your daughter doesn’t want to play volleyball shouldn’t mean that your son cannot play football,”” Neinas said.
Issues like the proportionality rule were also debated before the panel. One aspect of gender equity under Title IX calls for a proportional number of male and female athletic opportunities according to the statistical male-female makeup of the institution.
There were about 200 audience members in attendance at the panelist hearing, including the 40 UCSD protesters.
