Survey Says: Title IX Provides More Than Sporting Chance

In referring to the current Department of Education’s decision to rescind the much maligned Bush-era Title IX “model survey”, Vice President, Joe Biden, said, “What we’re doing here today will better ensure equal opportunity in athletics, and allowing women to realize their potential — so this nation can realize its potential.”  In other words, Title IX is a big fucking deal.  Right, Joe? 

Administered by the Office of Civil Rights in the US Department of Education, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 states, “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.”  As it refers to athletics, public schools and schools receiving tax payer funds, have three ways of complying with the law:  provide athletic opportunities proportionate to student enrollment, display a history of continued expansion of athletic opportunities for the underrepresented sex, or prove the establishment has met the athletic interest for all.  In 2005, the Bush administration’s Office of Civil Rights relaxed the third option, originally requiring multiple indicators of compliance, to the completion of a simple online survey.  Although there is no real evidence to say females were denied any opportunities, there are numbers to show that female participation in sports increased incrementally from 2005 to the present compared to the increase in female enrollment. 

As we all know, surveys are a helpful informational tool, but depending on how the questions are asked, can be slanted to elicit a favorable response.  I applaud the Obama administration for stepping up to the plate on this one.  I refer to myself as a Title IX baby.  This disco-age legislation took a while to trickle down to my juvenile geography, but the ultimate outcome was that I was provided the opportunity to become a rocket scientist instead of a home economics major, and that while cheerleading provided me a few favorable hook-ups, the real-life scoring came with an organized sports team. I learned the value of team work and goal sharing, the health benefits of exercise, and that the fog of defeat dissipates more quickly along a field of ten or more.  Whether it’s working on a government task force or volunteering at a non-profit organization, the ability to hit the long ball is personally satisfying, but it is team sport that reminds me the occasional sacrifice to move another forward along the path can be just as rewarding.