Former UCSD Director of Athletics and current NCAA Vice President of Championships and Education Services Judy Sweet criticized the new Title IX legal clarifications in her speech at the Association of Women in Sports Media Convention on May 28 in downtown San Diego.

Title IX is the ninth part of the 1972 education amendments and prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any educational program receiving federal funding. Although UCSD does not provide athletic scholarships, the university must provide equal opportunities for men and women to participate in sports and enforce equal treatment in 11 areas, including equipment, scheduling of practices, coaching and recruitment.

Since its passage, legislators, school administrators, coaches, athletes and the media have challenged Title IX.

In 1974, Congress rejected the Tower Amendment to Title IX introduced by Senator John Tower (R–Texas). The proposed amendment would have exempted all revenue-producing athletic programs from complying with Title IX.

In 1979, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare issued a three-prong test for institutions to follow in complying with Title IX. The following year, the Office for Civil Rights was created by the Department of Education and held responsible for enforcing Title IX.

In 1988, Congress overrode President Ronald Reagan’s veto and passed the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987. The act mandates that any university receiving federal funds for one of its programs must comply with Title IX in all its programs.

In 1996, OCR issued a clarification of the three-prong test, allowing institutions to select any of the three independent tests to ensure compliance with Title IX.

In 2002, the National Wrestling Coaches Association filed a lawsuit, alleging that Title IX’s policies are unconstitutional and are causing men’s programs to be cut. U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan later dismissed the lawsuit.

From 2002 through 2004, four Title IX complaints against Fresno State were filed with OCR.

The Title IX panel discussion addressed important issues surrounding the federal statute including a new interpretation of the three-prong test adopted by OCR on March 17. The new clarification declared that institutions may use a Web survey as “an acceptable method to measure students’ interests in participating in sports,” according to OCR. Sweet called this new interpretation a faulty methodology because getting no response from students surveyed can be interpreted as “lack of interest.”

In response to the clarification, NCAA President Myles Brand said that this new clarification “will likely stymie the growth of women’s athletics and could reverse the progress made over the last three decades.”

In addition, Stanford Athletic Director Ted Leland made a public statement declaring that Stanford will not follow OCR’s new interpretation.

Opposition to Title IX is not limited to legislatures. In a 2003 survey of sports editors, the panel found that 53 percent believe Title IX negatively affects men’s programs.

In 2000, former Fresno State women’s volleyball coach Lindy Vivas walked into the athletic department’s business office to pick up a check, only to run into an “Ugly-Woman Athlete Day” party held by Scott Johnson, an athletic administrator. Fresno State President John Welty named Johnson as athletics director in January 2002, after he had served as interim director since July 2001.

“It is my opinion that [Johnson] systematically started to get rid of those that defended Title IX,” Vivas said at the panel discussion.

Johnson did not renew Vivas’ contract in 2004. She coached the women’s volleyball team for 14 years with a 263-167 record, including three NCAA tournament appearances. In May 2004, Vivas filed a Title IX complaint against Fresno State to OCR. Her complaint is one of four Title IX complaints against the school filed since November 2002.

In May 2005, Johnson announced his retirement from his position as Fresno State athletic director and was replaced by then Ohio University Athletic Director Thomas Boeh.

Since the passage of Title IX, UCSD Athletics has complied with the regulations under the leadership of Sweet and current Athletics Director Earl W. Edwards.

“Without question, Title IX has had an extremely positive effect for women participating in intercollegiate sports,” Edwards stated on the UCSD Athletics Web site.

The new OCR interpretation of part C of the statute that allows institutions to use Web surveys does not presently apply to UCSD.

According to May, UCSD instead meets a requirement of part one of the three-part test, which mandates that participation opportunities must be in proportion to the number of undergraduate students.

“We worked to mirror the percentage within men and women of the student population,” UCSD Associate Athletic Director Wendy Taylor May said.

The Triton women’s teams benefited from Title IX, and have enjoyed much success since 1972, comprising 23 of UCSD’s 29 national championship teams.

The rules and regulations of Title IX:

Title IX:

“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

How Title IX applies to athletic programs:

An institution must meet all of the following requirements in order to be in compliance with Title IX.

1. For participation requirements, institutions’ officials must meet one of the following three tests. An institution may:

a) Provide participation opportunities for women and men that are substantially proportionate to their respective rates of enrollment of full-time undergraduate students;

b) Demonstrate a history and continuing practice of program expansion for the underrepresented sex;

c) Fully and effectively accommodate the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex; and,

2. Female and male student-athletes must receive athletics scholarship dollars proportional to their participation; and,

3. Equal treatment of female and male student athletes in the 11 provisions: equipment and supplies; scheduling of games and practice times; travel and daily allowance/per diem; access to tutoring; coaching, locker rooms, practice and competitive facilities; medical and training facilities and services; housing and dining facilities and services; publicity and promotions; support services and recruitment of student athletes.