Title IX has provided immeasurable opportunities for women across the country. The millions of women who have had the chance to participate in athletics because of the legislation have boosted their self-confidence and learned more on and off the playing field.
Unfortunately, Title IX, its goals and effects are often misunderstood. Many blame the legislation directly for the loss of men's sports, such as baseball on this campus, or focus primarily on quotas stemming from its proportionality clause. It may seem to many on campus today that the law is anachronistic, and that women's sports need no extra protection or help.
The importance of Title IX lay and still lies with the ideas presented'the radical notion that both genders should have equal educational opportunities'and its place in a broader social movement aimed at equality. Title IX should be viewed alongside affirmative action programs, the Voting Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and other legislation in this country aimed at eliminating entrenched social prejudices.
Like these other programs, we feel that Title IX still serves a purpose, though it should be continuously re-examined and updated as its original goals are achieved and new problems present themselves. For instance, an indirect effect of Title IX has undeniably been that schools facing athletics revenue deficits have been forced to cut men's sports in order to meet budget and achieve compliance. This does not mean women's sports have been exchanged for men's, but that is a common perception that leads to resentment of the law. If so many schools are facing budget problems as they make the transition to compliance, perhaps the federal government should explore the possibility of providing grants or loans to schools as they learn to manage new teams.
Finally, the federal Office of Civil Rights should continue to be understanding when evaluating schools that are making good faith efforts to comply, while punishing those that do not. Even schools such as UW-Madison, however, that have made substantial progress toward achieving compliance, should continue to be held accountable. Like other social programs, Title IX remains necessary today.
