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“I’m not sure they will ever be equal,” Dr. Janie Brown said in regards to men’s and women’s athletics. Brown, a professor emeritus of physical education at Elon University was instrumental in help starting the women’s athletic programs at the university. When Brown first arrived at Elon in 1967, there were no intercollegiate teams for women. The only opportunity women had in sports was through intramural sports. In 38 years teaching at the university, Brown saw the evolution of female athletics. Basketball, the first women’s sport at Elon, was started in 1971, a year before Title IX was passed. Brown credits the fact that there was a desire to startwomen's intercollegiate sports at the university and the hiring of Coach Kay Yow made it possibel for the women's basketball team to get started. Dr. Earl Danieley, who was president at the time, hired Yow to coach the team and to start women’s athletics at the school. Basketball was the first sport women’s sport at Elon. Volleyball and tennis soon followed under Yow’s direction. The women’s basketball team played its first game against Wake Forest in 1971 and the program developed from that moment on. When Title IX was passed a year later, the administration was worried on how to handle the new law. “The teachers and administrators were concerned about Title IX and how to comply with it,” Brown said. Title IX compliance at Elon Elon currently has ten intercollegiate sports for women and eight for men. One of the ways schools comply with Title IX is that the proportion of the overall student body should correspond with the proportion of athletes in a specific gender. This is one of the reasons why there are more female sports than male sports at Elon. The school attempts to meet this proportionality requirement, but does not do so exactly. Elon’s student body is about 60 percent female and 40 percent male. This doesn’t correspond exactly with Elon’s participation in athletics. This is a dilemma that many schools face when complying with Title IX. Football teams have a large number of athletes. There is no corresponding women's sport that has about 90 players on the roster, as football does. Opponents of Title IX have argued in recent years, to not count football as part of the participation and to make it in its own separate category because of the large number of athletes. No decision has been made in creating this interpretation of the law. Schools can look to combat the number of athletes on the football team by adding more women’s programs. Faith Shearer, the associate athletics director and the senior woman administrator at Elon, said Elon right now is not looking to add more women’s programs. The school is currently looking to develop the programs they have. This includes adding more full-time assistant coaches and adding more full scholarships for women athletes. Currently, some athletes only receive partial scholarships now for their sports. This is a number that the school is looking to increase Shearer said. “We try to do the very best for our student athletes here,” Shearer said. Faculty Athletics Committee Brown echoes this statement stating that there was never a Title IX lawsuit at the university. A lawsuit can be filed if a student, athlete, coach or parent voices a complaint about gender equity in athletics at the school. There hasn’t been a formal complaint filed for the university, but Stringer said that it is apparent that men and women athletes at the university aren’t equal. “Just driving on campus, you can see the inequities in the facilities,” said Dr. Amy Stringer, an assistant professor for health and human performance at Elon University. She cited the football stadium, but compared the facility for the baseball team compared to the softball team. The Faculty Athletics Committee looks at many aspects of athletics, including gender equity. Facilities would fall under this committee’s jurisdiction. All schools that are associated with the NCAA have this committee to look at athletics closely. Joyce Davis, an associate professor for exercise science at Elon University, served on this committee for two years and said that the gender equity plan was well-developed and appropriate. One aspect of the plan was for the school to hire more assistant coaches for women’s sports teams. Davis said this goal has been accomplished. Criticisms of Title IX A major criticism of the law is that schools are supposedly force to cut men’s sports to comply with the law. In recent years, schools across the nation have cut men’s wrestling, swimming and track programs. “Every institution has to make a decision on how to manage resources,” Shearer said. “This (cutting men’s sports) is not a route we’re interested.” A way schools can comply with the law is to have equal proportion of female athletes’ representative to the overall population of the student body. Since more women are attending colleges, this compliance can present problems for colleges. “The philosophy is appropriate and good. There’s a good level of opportunity,” said Paul Parsons, the Dean of the School of Communications and is heading the committee at Elon to file the NCAA report. “The criticism is that it has been interpreted legalistically by the courts and creates a sense of unfairness.” Phyllis Schlafly, a conservative columnist, is an outspoken voice against Title IX. In a column on Dec. 8, 2004, she said that Title IX should be repealed because of the lack of interest among female athletes and called the law “nonsense.” Schlafly’s statements are common among Title IX opponents. Not only are law suits being filed on behalf of female players and coaches, but now law suits are being filed on behalf of the male athletes. The National Wrestling Coaches association is one group that continues to advocate against the law. Future for the law Title IX has opened the door for women athletes in its 37-year history. It provides women more access to education and more opportunity in athletics. A trend is to have children to be pushed into an early age with sports and specialized training, said Eric Hall, the faculty athletics representative at Elon University. “There’s starting to be more of a push toward the professional model of specialization,” Hall said. Davis acknowledges that the gap between men and women athletics is shrinking in other areas as well. “I never thought I’d see women’s sports on TV,” Davis commented contentedly. Women’s college and professional sports are showcased on TV. Today, the WNBA, the professional women’s tennis tour and the LPGA are some of the most popular outlets for women to play sports on in America. Despite this progress, some acknowledge not enough has been made. Stringer said in recent years, Title IX has been stuck. She’s optimistic that the Obama administration will continue to move the law forward. “We’ve made good strides, but we’re not there yet,” Stringer said. “A lot of universities and high schools are meeting the bare minimum (with compliance). It’s my hope and dreams that schools meet full compliance.” Throughout her time at Elon, Brown has seen the women’s athletic program grow and reach new heights. At the start, there was only one coach for several sports teams. Now, each woman’s sport has its own coaches and some even have full-time assistants. Brown states taht progess is being made nationwide and at the university in developing the wome's athletics programs, but knows more can be done. Kay Yow coaches one of the first Elon women’s basketball team in the 1970s. Photo courtesy of Elon Athletics. Title IX was passed in 1972 as a portion of the Education Amendments of 1972. The exact wording of Title IX is as followed: -No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from par- ticipation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any edu- cational program or activity receiving fed- eral financial assistance. Title IX focuses on athletics, but encom- passes all educational opportunities. This law applies to all schools, from elementary schools to colleges. Schools that don’t com- ply with Title IX can lose their federal fund- ing. “ “ Just driving on campus, you can see the inequities in the facilities. - Dr.. Amy Stringer An assistant professor for health and human performance What is Title IX? Faces of Elon women’s athletics Janie Brown: Dr. Janie Brown, was instrumental in helping Elon athletics succeed. In her 38 years with the university, she saw women’s varsity sports be added and continue to grow from there. She worked closley, with the first women’s coach, Kay Yow. Brown currently is a retired from Elon, but is a regular face in the crowd at many athletic events and other university events. Brown pictured in the 1973 Phi Psi Cli, the Elon University yearbook. Photo Courtesy of Belk Library Archives. Yow pictured in the 1973 Phi Psi Cli, the Elon University yearbook. Photo Courtesy of Belk Library Archives. Kay Yow: Coach Kay Yow was the first women's head coach at Elon University. In 1971, she coached the women's basketball team at the college. After she left Elon in 1975, she went on to coach at N.C. State University where she had a hall of fame basketball career. Yow passed away on Jan. 24, 2009 after a Jackie Myers pictured in the 1986 Phi Psi Cli, the Elon University yearbook. Photo Courtesy of Belk Library Archives. Jackie Myers: Jackie Myers coached the Elon women's basketball team from 1985-1994. Before she was coach of the team, Myers played basketball under Yow for a year at Elon. Then, she played volleyball for the coach at Past, Present and Future of Title IX Pursuit for Equality: A look at Title IX in collegiate athletics Pam Richter - Reporter To see more about Title IX, please visit www.pamrichter. wordpress.com.
