Title 9

Title IX requires educational institutions to provide benefits both to men and women without discriminating against persons of either sex. This provides that "[n]o 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."In the time since Congress enacted Title IX in 1972, women's sports programs developed from small, and nearly invisible afterthoughts into large and very important components of athletic programs at pretty much every high school and college in the nation. The participation rates of women in varsity athletics more than doubled, almost tripled, and at many institutions the number of varsity sports offered for women reached or even exceeded the number offered for men. Last year, when colleges and universities finally began to credit themselves for their hard work and investment in achieving a higher level of participation by women despite an increasingly difficult economic environment, everything changed. Three federal courts of appeals' decisions signaled a "monumental change" in the interpretation of Title IX that put the varsity athletics programs of virtually every college and university in violation of the law. These three decisions interpreted Title IX to require that colleges and universities provide varsity positions for male and female athletes in proportion to the enrollment of male and female students in the overall student body. Women currently comprise about 50% of college students and 36% of college varsity athletes.

Title 9 was modeled on the grounds of Title 6 of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits racial discrimination by, among others, colleges or universities receiving federal financial assistance. Title 6 says that "No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance The Supreme Court has recognized that Title 9 was patterned after Title 6, substituting "sex" for "race, color for national origin." The Court said "The drafters of Title 9 explicitly assumed that it would be interpreted and applied as Title 6 had been during the preceding eight years." The cases decided under Title 6 make it clear that a proportional enrollment test would be contrary to the statute. Women continue to encounter hardships, despite their history of accomplishments and despite the history of the legislation that protects them from such barriers. Too many women still confront the problem of sexual harassment..... Women still lag behind men in gaining a decent wage....... and only one-third of all intercollegiate athletic scholarships are granted to women. An example of Title 9 in regards to education....

The great untold story of success that resulted from the passage of Title IX is surely