Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in collegiate sports, may soon be significantly reinterpreted. According to a proposal by the U.S. Secretary of Education's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics, universities such as UW-Madison may soon limit scholarships awarded to women athletes.
As the law is implemented now, the number of scholarships for men and women is required to be proportional with the number of men and women enrolled at a particular college. The percentages of each gender in sports must also reflect enrollment data.
On Sunday's edition of \Meet the Press,"" White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card voiced the Bush administration's support for a review of Title IX.
""Title IX has created some challenges for the higher education institutions in the country ... There are some from academia who have come to the administration saying that it's very difficult for them to live up to the expectations of Title IX as it's currently written, and they'd like [Title IX] review[ed]. I think Secretary [of Education Rod] Paige is appropriate in calling the best experts together to discuss the situation, to make recommendations that the president can consider.""
However, some UW-Madison administrators said this is a step in the wrong direction.
Steve Malchow, the assistant athletics director at UW-Madison, said the Office of Civil Rights certified UW-Madison last year for complying with Title IX, more than 30 years after the law's passage.
Cheryl Marra, who benefited from Title IX herself as a student, is now a UW-Madison sports administrator and associate athletics director. She said she supports Title IX unchanged.
""We sent a position paper to that particular commission stating our concerns with [the proposed changes], and our experiences with Title IX,"" Marra said.
UW-Madison administrators said that the problems with Title IX lie in its interpretation rather than the law itself.
""Title IX has been confused in how you implement it and it's been a law that's been really confusing to know whether you're in compliance,"" said Bernice Durand, associate vice chancellor for diversity and climate at UW-Madison.
UW-Madison administrators said there are misconceptions and errors in the implementation of Title IX at certain colleges, which may have spurred recent controversies surrounding the issue.
Despite this, Durand said she thinks Title IX has accomplished more good than bad.
""A lot of women and a lot of girls have opportunities that they never had,"" Durand said.
She added that sports offer the opportunity to learn ""the value of sports--being coached, how to lose and win gracefully, self discipline and time management--women deserve all that too.\
