Title Ix

Title IX is a 1972 amendment that prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions that receive any federal funds (Kocher, 1). While women's participation in sports in going up, men's participation is being cut drastically by Title IX. I think this amendment needs to be reformed very soon or else it's going to turn into a bigger issue then it needs to be.

In brief, Title IX 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 educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. If institutions are found to violate Title IX, their federal funding can be taken away (Katz, 1). Title IX is a law against discrimination, so there is hardly anybody against it as a law. Some women believe that if the law had not been passed, they would not have grown up playing sports and would not have received athletic scholarships. "Title IX is the most important piece of legislation for women since they got the right to vote" (Bauer, 2).

On the other hand, many people think that Title IX is difficult to understand and poorly stated, especially in athletics. The current controversy revolves around a three-part test that the Office for Civil Rights uses to see if a school passes Title IX (Katz, 2). The first part of the test is proportionality, which says the number of athletes from each sex should be roughly equivalent to enrollment percentages. Much of the controversy comes from this. In order to achieve proportionality, many schools have added women's teams and cut men's teams and have also made their rosters smaller. The second part is that a school should show a history and continuing practice of adding women's sports. The third part is that schools should be able to show that the athletic interests and abilities of women on campus are being fully and effectively accommodated.

One reason that Title IX needs to be reformed is that women with no experience are receiving full scholarships at various schools in order for the school to meet their quota, while more deserving males feel like they are getting shafted. Not everyone can earn a spot on an intercollegiate team, but the fact is, if you look at who is truly interested in competing in varsity athletics, many more males are turned away and denied opportunities, than females.

Another reason for reform