"Let's get ready to rumble!"
With jock jams blasting in the background, five panelists squared off last night in McCosh 50 at the "Title IX Bout" — a debate over the pros and cons of Title IX. In a vibrant discussion, the panelists brainstormed numerous solutions to the Title IX controversy.
The panel addressed issues surrounding Title IX, primarily the concern that men's athletics on college campuses is suffering as a direct result of the law. Maura Bolger '03's senior thesis inspired the event.
Panelists repeatedly raised the point that the legislation of Title IX had been poorly interpreted on many college campuses.
"The problem is people using interpretation difficulty as an excuse for noncompliance," said Donna Lopiano, the Executive Director of the Women's Sports Foundation.
While some schools have failed to implement Title IX altogether, as Lopiano alleges, others have misinterpreted the law to cut "lower priority" male teams such as wrestling or water polo to afford equal athletic opportunities for women.
"The number of women's teams has increased significantly, while the number of boys' teams has decreased even more significantly," said Clay McEldowney '69, Secretary Treasurer of the College Sports Council.
McEldowney and Deborah Perry, Senior Fellow for the Independent Women's Forum, claimed that women have demonstrated less interest in college sports than men. Colleges should consider this difference when allocating resources, they said.
The other three panelists counterargued that increased opportunities for women would foster increased demand for and interest in sports.
"If we provided opportunities based on perceived interest, we'd be where we were [15 years ago]," said Dan Fulks, Faculty Athletics representative at Transylvania University in Kentucky.
Panelists cited college football as an area that could be targeted for reallocation of resources to other men's or women's teams.
"[Football] is just enough more expensive than it needs to be to make an equitable program for men and women," said Jeff Orleans, executive director of the council of Ivy Group Presidents.
The 'Bout' was largely attended by student athletes, who said they had enjoyed what the panelists said.
"I thought it was really fun and objective," varsity swimmer Becky Wein '03 said.
All-American wrestler Greg Parker '03 also said he enjoyed the discussion, and agreed with McEldowney and Perry, who advocated that Title IX be implemented based on student interest, and not on the proportion of men to women in the student body.
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