Published: July 12, 2007
On Monday, July 9, the Superior Court of California, County of Fresno Central Division, awarded former volleyball coach Linda L. Vivas $5,852,069 in damages in her lawsuit against California State University at Fresno (CSU-Fresno). In what is believed to be the largest judgment ever awarded to a coach in a Title IX case, the jury found that Vivas was fired in retaliation for her speaking out on behalf of her students and program that CSU-Fresno was in violation of Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in educational programs and activities offered by institutions that are recipients of federal funds. The jury also found that CSU-Fresno discriminated against Vivas because she was a woman and because of her perceived sexual orientation. Similar lawsuits brought by other women in the Fresno Athletic Department - Diane Milutinovich, a former Fresno State assistant athletic director, and Stacy Johnson-Klein, former women's basketball coach are still pending.
Dr. Donna Lopiano, CEO of the Women's Sports Foundation, stated, “The Women's Sports Foundation applauds Coach Vivas and the other women who have brought lawsuits against their universities, for standing up for their rights. Women coaches and administrators have a right to expect that civil rights laws would have done a lot more to eradicate the stains of gender and race discrimination in employment and compensation. Over the past 35 years, it appears that anti-discrimination laws have simply driven discrimination underground. Employment practices and discriminatory treatment have become more artful, more deceiving, more difficult to uncover and combat. Presidents and athletic administrators must do a better job of hiring and retaining female coaches and administrators.”
In a 2006 study, “Women in Intercollegiate Sport: A Longitudinal, National Study Twenty Nine Year Update (1977-2006),” researchers Acosta and Carpenter highlight the employment of females in college sports over the past 29 years and conclude it is not encouraging:
- 2006 data revealed the lowest-ever representation of females as coaches of women's teams.
- Only 42.4% of women's teams are coached by a female head coach.
- Less than 2% of men's teams are coached by a female head coach.
- Only 17.7% of all teams (men's teams and women's teams) are coached by a female head coach.
- In 1972, the year Title IX was enacted, over 90% of the head coaches for women's teams, and about 2% of the coaches for men's teams were female.
- The representation of females as head administrators continues to decline.
- Only 18.6% of athletic directors of women's programs are female yet females hold 35.2 percent of all administrative jobs.
- Division III schools have the highest percentage of female ADs at 26.6%.
- 14.5% of women's athletic programs totally lack any female administrator at any level.
- The most common administrative structure is composed of three administrators, one male AD, one male assistant/associate AD and one female assistant/associate AD.
- There are more administrators in the average program (3.44) than ever before.
- In 1972 when Title IX was enacted, more than 90% of women's programs were administered by a female athletic director.
- Only 27.4% of head athletic trainers are female (15.3% in Division I).
- Only 12.1% of sports information directors are female (9.3% in Division II).
The Women's Sports Foundation receives hundreds of calls from distressed parents who are afraid to raise Title IX concerns because they fear retaliation against their athlete daughters – loss of scholarship assistance, being benched and/or harassment by boys' teams whose coaches tell them that because the girls are raising equal treatment issues they will lose financial support or current benefits. They don't want their children to suffer, but they want gender equity laws enforced.
When coaches are suffering from a hostile environment, they rarely suffer alone. The student-athletes that coaches are entrusted with mentoring cannot help but feel the sting of a hostile environment. The educational mission of athletics thrives when athletic departments support female coaches and embrace gender equity, making it a welcome environment for all students who play sports, regardless of gender, race, national origin or perceived sexual orientation.
Lopiano continued, “The issue of perceived sexual orientation being used to terminate or not hire female coaches, as experienced by Vivas, is also not uncommon. It is not unusual, when an athletic director is checking on the credentials or references of unmarried female coaching candidates, to hear concerns that the applicant is homosexual. Ultimately the best way to solve these problems is by educating all the stakeholders – administrators, coaches, parents and athletes about why homophobia and sexism should be unwelcome in the athletic arena.”
For more information about Title IX, homophobia in sports and coaching statistics, please visit:
Women's Sports Foundation Education Guide: Special Issues for Coaches of Women's SportsChalk Talk: Title IX and Discrimination Based on Sexual OrientationIt Takes a Team!: Guides for Handling Anti-Gay HarassmentSexual Harassment - Sexual Harassment and Sexual Relationships Between Coaches and Athletes: The Foundation PositionIf you would like to see a complete copy of the Acosta/Carpenter report, please visit
Women in Intercollegiate Sport A Longitudinal, National Study Thiry One Year Update: 1977-2008.