Step 15: The Title IX Complaint (Appendix)

**Note: The list of examples we have provided is both long and deep. They are provided only to help you word the content of your complaint. Below is a sample of how you might describe discrimination based on the denial of equal competitive opportunities (also referred to as “Interests and Abilities”). Funding and Scholarships plus Treatment also follow and are backed with examples.

I. Competitive Opportunities/Meeting Students’ Interests and Abilities

Example: 

Our school’s student body is presently 50% female and 50% male, but the athletic participation rates for female students in sports is only 33% (344) compared to 67% (719) for male students. There are female students who are interested in participating in sports, but their interests are not being met. The school has not added sport opportunities for girls in the last eight years. The school has cut sport opportunities for girls, by eliminating JV volleyball two years ago.

II. Funding and Scholarships

Example: 

Our university is not at all transparent about scholarships. I found out that the football team is carrying more than 48 players on a full load of financial aid, and that covers classes, room and board. There is no one else on any team (male or female) that receives a full scholarship like this. Some of us have a waiver, which carries our tuition during the season we play. We think, however, something else might be going on. Two other male teams (basketball and baseball) have their waivers covering both semesters—the one when the team plays in the division and the other semester when they call it “fall ball” or “spring training.” We heard this from several male athletes, who presumed we had the same financial aid system in the women’s program. Overall, there are only single-semester tuition breaks for females on our campus, and many males (probably more than 30) who get both semesters, each year, on scholarship. And we can’t be sure because no one will give us any information.

III. Treatment

*The treatment categories below are all relevant as you describe gender disparities in the athletic program. See Step 2 for the standards and language of Title IX. It is important when writing your complaint that you not only note the specific treatment or issue for your team, but also describe how that creates an overall imbalance between the treatment of the male and female athletes. Keep in mind that the Title IX law is about impact on the total program. It is not enough that one girls’ team is treated worse than one boys’ team in the fall season. If in the winter season a girls’ team gets better benefits than the boys’ team, the inequity might balance out. Here are some sample findings to that, with your elaboration, will demonstrate a pattern of inequity.

a) Locker Rooms, Practice and Competitive Facilities

Example 1: 

The boys’ golf team practices and plays at the nearby country club, but the girls’ golf team plays at the public golf course, which is not as nice and is a 30-minute drive from school. The other girls’ teams in our school use facilities that are either of the same or lesser quality than the boys’ teams. Overall, the facilities used by the girls’ sports program are not as nice, well-kept or convenient as those used by the boys.

Example 2: 

The girls’ soccer players do not have access to the weight room. The girls’ team is signed up to use the weight room every Monday and Wednesday at 4:30, following the football team. When the girls arrive for their scheduled weight training sessions, the football players won’t leave. By the time the males leave, the females have less than 15 minutes before the custodial staff begins cleaning. This happens weekly, and many of the girls avoid showing up for their scheduled workouts. The athletic director told the soccer and football coaches to “work it out,” but the football coach has refused to remedy the situation. The girls’ soccer team is the only team in the school that does not get the time it has scheduled in the weight training room.

b) Equipment and Supplies

Example: 

At the start of every season the boys’ varsity basketball team receives new uniforms and gym bags, but the girls’ varsity basketball team hasn’t received new uniforms in three years. This disparity in equipment and supplies between the girls’ and boys’ basketball team creates an overall disparity in the sports program because there are no girls’ teams that receive this type of benefit over a boys’ team.

c) Scheduling of Games and Practice Times

Example: 

The girls on the swim team have pool time at the local “Y” at 6:00 a.m. in the morning. The boys have the 4:00 p.m. spot. Since our high school starts early, it means we are scheduled for PE first period and “miss it” with swim practice counting as our gym time. It actually gives us shorter access to the instructional day, with fewer chances to select courses in the academics. The boys do not have any conflict with their day and certainly don’t have to be in the pool first thing in the morning. We requested that the teams alternate, going early one week and after school the next. The boys’ coach just laughed, explaining that he taught a first-period class and that just wouldn’t work for him. Then, we looked at the overall schedule of shared spaces in the field house and playing areas. The boys get the best times everywhere when there’s an option. Even the wrestling team (all-male this year) uses the big mat space in the small gym. That used to be for the girls’ volleyball team. Now the girls practice behind the bleachers. Field hockey can’t practice after rainy days, because their old, grassy field doesn’t drain. The boys’ soccer and football teams have new turf fields that are available for practice and play almost any time. When the field hockey team requested use of their fields for a few drills and training, the coaches said, “Sure, if we’re done at 7:00 p.m.” The overall result is that the schedule of practices favors male athletes at our school.

d) Publicity

Example: 

The cheerleaders and the band attend all of the home and away games for the boys’ basketball team but only home games for the girls’ basketball team. While I don’t have access to the cheerleading and band schedule, based on my observations, overall the cheerleaders at our school attend more boys’ sporting events than girls’ events.

e) Coaching

Example 1: 

The boys’ baseball coach has 15 years of experience playing and coaching baseball. The girls’ softball coach has never played or coached softball and was formerly the boys' golf coach. In addition to softball, overall, the coaches for the girls’ teams have less experience in their sports than the coaches for the boys’ teams.

Example 2: 

The school has refused the coach’s request to hire an extra assistant basketball coach for the girls’ team but just hired a new assistant for the boys. The boys’ basketball team has a coach-to-student ratio of 1:5, but the girls’ program has a ratio of 1:12. Across the program, the girls’ teams have a 1:10 coach-to-student ratio and the boys have a 1:7 coach-to-student ratio. Overall, girls have fewer opportunities to receive coaching than boys.

f) Travel and Daily Allowance

Example 1: 

The girls’ volleyball team has to raise its own money to pay for travel to the Winter Break Iinvitational Tournament, but all of the other boys’ teams that take similar trips have sufficient money in their budget to pay for team travel.

Example 2: 

The school football team travels to away games in a charter bus, but all the other sports teams take school buses. This creates an overall program disparity because no girls’ team gets the travel benefit that the boys’ football team gets.

g) Academic Tutoring

Example: 

The men who are on football scholarships this season are assigned an academic tutor for the semester. They also get credit for a class called writing, which is really just an extra, defined tutoring session in the computer lab. The women playing soccer on scholarship were told by their coach to keep their grades up. If they needed any extra help, they were encouraged to head to the study center for tutoring. The end result is that males (in most sports) get serious support, overall, for help in the academic areas. Females? There’s a presumption that they’ll be fine and know how to ask for help if they’re not doing well.

h) Provision of Medical Training Facilities and Services

Example: 

The high school fall sports budget includes a trainer—to tape, prescribe stretch and strength training programs and to be available on game days. The position is for nine hours a week. The trainer spends five of the hours with the football team, before, during and after games. The other four hours, the trainer stays in the training room, mostly working with the boys who have access any time before practices. If I have a female soccer player who needs taping or other services, she ends up waiting by the door, hoping to catch the trainer when she exits. This same type of treatment of the female athletes occurs during the winter and spring seasons, meaning that overall, the female athletes do not have the same access to medical and training facilities as the boys do.

i) Provision of Housing and Dining Facilities and Service

Example: 

The men’s basketball team members at our university is housed in a special dorm. It’s more than the extra-long beds; it’s the finest apartment-like facility on campus with a well-catered floor dining room that’s just for them. They’re near the gym. They have their laundry done (anything they drop off at their locker counts as their laundry). They may be presumed to be campus stars, but the life for a female basketball player is amazingly different—and our women have consistently been regional champs. They live in dorms all over campus, with no sense of community or camaraderie. They don’t have team-based meals, so many of them are stuck paying for their meal cards, cooking for themselves or grabbing whatever snack (albeit unhealthy) they can. So the men, who are paying the same dorm and food costs, get the best accommodations and meals on campus, and everyone else (athletes and non-athletes alike) gets whatever works.

j) Recruitment of Student-Athletes

Example:

The men’s programs (major and minor sports) have six paid coaches who work off-season on full-time recruiting. Their goal is to bring in approximately 30 new athletes to the programs annually. They have a budget that includes rather significant travel expenses for visits across the region. The women’s teams (none of which are considered “major sports”), get a 1/3-time position per season for recruiting. The “recruiter” also does some generic college admissions work (for the other 2/3rds of her time), well outside the role of enlisting new athletes.

k) Support Services

Example: 

The men’s and women’s programs have coaches and even assistant coaches on a comparable basis. Overall, however, it’s all the extra added staffing support that makes the AD’s and men’s sports coaches’ jobs so much easier! There are two full-time administrative assistants for the AD. They are grad students, getting internship credit in sports management. One works almost solely on publicity for the men’s football team, the other seems to be connected to alumni and development work with previous male athletes who are on the road to becoming big givers. The AD also has a staff that includes: technicians, videographers, statisticians, clerical personnel, a graphic designer and probably others salaried directly from the athletic budget. On an hour-by-hour analysis, these people serve the men’s teams more than 78% of their time, yet the participation opportunities for athletes on campus accurately reflects a gender balance in enrollment. The end result is that while the men and women get to play, so much of the males’ sport experience is enhanced by all the extras they receive.

E. Internal Grievance

The Advocates for Change have attempted to solve these equity concerns. [List all actions you have taken to date and how the school officials have responded. Refer to your notes and paper trail for more details to include here.] For example, beginning on (date), we have participated in a conversation with members of the Athletic Department, (list other people) regarding our gender equity concerns.