Looking for a school that has your rights in mind? Advocacy intern Jessica Post offers this advice...
By Jessica Post
I receive numerous calls from collegiate women who express unhappiness with the treatment of female athletes at their schools. These calls come not only from athletes, but also from other women who witness unequal practices. These callers are either unhappy with facilities, publicity, coaching or scheduling, or just plainly feel that women athletes are not afforded the same respect as their male counterparts. They think, and rightly so, that by treating women as second-class students, their schools send the wrong message.
This article is addressed to all potential undergraduate or graduate students, not just to athletes but also to anyone who values equality and non-discrimination. It is time to take charge of your own destiny, and you can start by choosing to attend a school at which all students are treated equally. We need to repay schools that have made equality their goal.
Luckily, this task is simple. There are plenty of resources available for researching potential schools.
Begin by going to the Chronicle of Higher Education Web site (chronicle.com). This organization collects annual data from all NCAA Division I schools and posts this information on the Web. You can find information on participation, budget, scholarship awards and recruiting funds for both men's and women's sports. Please consider utilizing this enormous resource if you are planning on attending a Division I school. The site allows you to compare potential choices. The Chronicle also features articles discussing the issues facing collegiate athletic departments.
Also, the Department of Education just recently added a Web site that includes EADA information for all colleges and universities. At http://ope.ed.gov/athletics, you can compare just about any two- or four-year institution that you are considering attending. This is a fabulous tool that was not previously available. While this site does not give you proportionality data (like the Chronicle of Higher Education does), you can calculate it from the given information.
Now, for all schools that receive federal funds (this group includes almost every two- or four-year college), you can also request a table that lists all of the information listed on the Chronicle of Higher Education's Web site. These schools are required to provide this information under the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (S.1468), passed in 1996. You should examine this data in search of male-female discrepancies. In the participation section, look at the figures for "male and female athletic student body" and the "total student body." Those percentages should be very similar. The scholarship percentage should equal the female athletic body percentage. Recruiting expenses should be very nearly equal. All of these categories can give you clues as to the treatment of female athletes at the school.
Also, when you visit a school, keep your eyes open for signs of inequality. Pick up a school newspaper to see whether male and female athletes receive equal coverage. Attend both a men's and a women's sporting event to see whether they receive equal treatment. Look closely at the facilities; make sure that baseball does not have an immaculately manicured field while the softball field needs a weed wacker. Check a schedule to ensure that both men and women receive prime-time slots. If you can, peek in the women's locker room. Be wary when you hear that the men's locker room has leather couches and a free sport-drink machine, while the women's locker room has a bench. All of these very visible signs can indicate how committed a school is to its women's sports program.
We find ourselves at a point at which 80 percent of all colleges and universities fail to comply with Title IX! What to do? We need to show schools that they need to pick up the pace. It has been 30 years since Title IX was passed! If you are choosing between a school that has made a commitment to women's athletics and a school that appears to have made no such commitment, pick the school with principle. In the long run, you will be happier at a school that values equality, and we need to show schools that we appreciate their efforts to comply with Title IX. Don't support the slackers!