The ongoing battle over Title IX.

• Author: Hogshead-Makar, Nancy
• Position: Athletic Arena - Commission on Opportunity in Athletics process analyzed

TITLE IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Federal law mandating gender equity in education, is under legal attack by a group of wrestling coaches who contend that its enforcement in athletics operates as a "quota" that discriminates against men. In 2002, the National Wrestling Coaches Association sued the U.S. Department of Education, contending that men's teams are being dropped not for school budgetary reasons, but because of women's lack of interest in sports that keeps men from being able to participate in the numbers their sex demands. In response, the Department of Education created an Orwellian-sounding Commission on Opportunity in Athletics, which could have been named the "Commission to Justify Taking Opportunities from Women." This hand-picked commission, weighted heavily against Title IX, was established to eviscerate the law's interpretive regulations via an end run around the courts, Congress, and the will of the people.

Having fought Title IX battles over the past two decades as an athlete and an attorney advocate, I naively thought that certain tired, old, discredited anti-Title IX arguments would die a natural death. They haven't. Title IX remains as important today as when it was first enacted during the Nixon Administration in 1972.

The arguments against Title IX in the current debate are well-worn, having been raised and rejected time and again since the law was passed. Essentially, foes attempt to argue that Title IX is a quota, that it amounts to affirmative action, and that it discriminates against men. When Congress passed the current regulations in 1975, no fewer than nine amendments were introduced that would have weakened the law. Throughout the 31 years of Title IX's existence, Congress has heard from the law's detractors repeatedly, but if expressly rejected every attempt to curb its effectiveness.

In the 1980s and 1990s, these same arguments were heard before Federal appellate courts across the country. Every Federal appeals court that has examined this issue has upheld the regulations and concluded that Title IX does not constitute reverse discrimination and is not a quota law. It is difficult to find greater unanimity of judicial opinion on any topic.

Finally, critics try to persuade the general public that Title IX is to blame for all the ills of athletic departments and that the law is forcing the hand of athletic directors. In fact, seven of 10 adults who are familiar with Title IX think the law should be strengthened or left alone, according to a USA Today/CNN/ Gallup poll. The same results were found in an NBC/WSJ poll, even when the question was asked in the manner most likely to evoke a negative response--whether the respondent approved of Title IX when "many schools and universities have had to cut back on resources for men's athletic programs and invest more in women's athletic programs to make the programs more equal." Support for current legal interpretations of Title IX has come from more than 100 national organizations, as well as from the Executive Committee of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Foes of the law often rest on the stereotypical and flawed belief that women are less interested in sports than men. They point out that women participate at lower rates as justification for providing them with fewer opportunities, but that only makes the case for Title IX. The data show that, as opportunities are created, women fill them. Fewer opportunities in athletics exist for women because of the persistent discrimination against them, not lack of interest. About 2,800,000 high school girls, or one out of every 2.5, are athletes, and roughly 170,000 women are participating at the collegiate level.

Let me make this personal. I would not have become a world-class swimmer without the opportunity as an 11-year-old to be in a swimming program in my community. I would not have earned a full college scholarship without a school offering me one. This is not a "chicken or egg" conundrum: Creating opportunities creates interest and participation.

Women's sports are only now starting to realize the promise of Title IX, a promise the Commission and others would renege upon. While women have moved to fill sports opportunities in dramatic fashion as...