Conclusion of a two-part column
The history of Title IX, a law originally not favored by Black members of Congress, has seen a series of ups and downs during its four and a half decades.
But perhaps in hindsight the Black congresspersons foresaw what would come of this law. The NCAAâs latest report, â45 Years of Title IX,â points out that Black females âhave experienced slight gains in participationâ in all three divisions over the past 15 years.
Although female participation overall in 2016 is 54 percent, Black female participation in all three divisions increased barely a percent in 15 years from 10.1 percent in 2001 to 11.2 percent in 2016.
The percentage of Black female head coaches of womenâs teams has dropped to 7.7 percent in 2016 from 8.6 percent in 2011. Black female assistant coaches have âslightly increasedâ from 10.8 percent in 2011 to 11.5 percent in 2016.
It appears that Title IX has been at best a modest success for females of color.
The NCAA report noted that, contrary to predictions that Title IX would slowly kill menâs sports, expenditures over the past decade for menâs and womenâs athletics in all three divisions have doubled. But the numbers also show that Division I athletics departments spend twice as much on menâs programs than on womenâs programs, with the widest gap at Football Bowl Division (FBS) schools. Thereâs somewhat more equitable spending on menâs and womenâs programs at Division II and Division III schools.
Looking back, neither Title IXâs original text nor Congress envisioned it as a sports law. Nonetheless, âa revolutionâŠwith new participation opportunities for girls and womenâ took place in the 1970s, notes the report.
The lawâs ups and downs over its existence have included athletic department officials oft-debating new compliance regulations and policy interpretations as a result. Even the NCAA once sued the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare in 1976 over the lawâs validity, but failed.
Almost all athletic departments around the country didnât comply with Title IX until Congress passed the Civil Rights Restoration Act in the late 1980s. The Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act in 1994 required colleges and universities to annually report data about their menâs and womenâs programs.
President George Bush was accused of trying to weaken Title IX in 2002 when he set up a commission to study it, but the group supported the law. Then President Barack Obama in 2010 got rid of the federal âclarificationâ that colleges and universities only had to use an email survey to prove they were meeting participation requirements.
Now Title IX is dealing with sexual harassment and sexual violence issues and provides protection against discrimination for LGBTQ students.
Richard Lapchick of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport told the MSR that he believes Title IX will survive the current political divisiveness. âI think women have a strong enough voice and the women athletics community is [such a] powerful force that it would be very hard to eliminate it.â
âIâm extremely gratefulâ for Title IX, says WNBA player Alana Beard. âThe privilege of playing at the high school level, then after that getting a scholarship for college and getting an unbelievable education at the university â none of that would have been possible without Title IX.â
Fellow WNBAer Nneka Ogwumike proudly noted that she and her three sisters, including Chiney, who also plays in the league, attended âgreat institutionsâ and their parents âdidnât have to pay a nickel for the four of us to go to school,â thanks to Title IX.
Title IX, now 45 years old, must remain diligent in striving for athletic equity for all.
The entire NCAA report can be read and downloaded on NCAA.org.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.
Charles Hallman is a contributing reporter and award-winning sports columnist at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.