Why should the male athletes have a weight room, while the girls don't have one at all?
Published: June 23, 2003
This was the first question Richard Wren asked himself. In order to answer that, he needed to take a close look. The school that Wren's son attends has quite a discrepancy inside its own walls.
Richard Wren never imagined he'd be a catalyst to gender equity progress at GAR High School in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., After all, his son, not daughter is a student at GAR. However, through his role as the treasurer of the Blue-Grey Foundation, which raises funds for GAR athletics, he has found himself playing ringleader in the fight to give girls an equal opportunity at GAR. Wren's fact-finding, letter-writing, petition-signing mission to push the high school to build a facility that male and female athletes could both use is looking more and more like a victory every day.
The lone fitness center at GAR High School is a weight room in the boys' locker room. After hearing discussions about solving the problem for nearly 20 years, Wren was tired of standing back and watching as no progress was made. This was a violation of Title IX, specifically the comparable facilities section of the law. The regulations of this section, state that “a recipient may provide separate toilet, locker room and shower facilities on the basis of sex, but such facilities provided for students of one sex shall be comparable to such facilities provided for students of the other sex.”
Like many parents across the country, Wren was troubled by the sharp contrast that he found between the resources available to boys' teams and those available to girls' teams. He could not ignore the glaring differences between the weight room that his son used every day in his locker room and the caged area with three or four pieces of equipment leading to the boys' locker room that the girls had access to.
Wren gained interest and got involved with the Blue-Grey Foundation when he realized the discrepancy when comparing the boys' fitness center to the girls' at GAR. While doing research, Wren came across a problem that has been staring GAR High School in the face for the past 20 years. GAR was not affording all of its athletes with comparable facilities within its own athletic department.
Wren started a campaign to add an adequate training facility by meeting with the school board and speaking to school administrators. He realized how difficult but possible it is to make changes for the good of everyone at the school. He not only wrote letters to his Congressman, Paul E. Kanjorski, and members of his school board, but also constructed a petition and gained quite a following of parents in the Wilkes-Barre School District. After hours of writing, research and contact with the Women's Sports Foundation, Wren decided to file a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights. The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights is a law enforcement agency that investigates alleged Title IX violations, resolves complaints and monitors compliance.
Because of Wren's commitment to equal opportunity for both boys and girls, the school board and superintendent have agreed to start fundraising for a new co-ed facility. The Blue-Grey Foundation has already raised $36,000 towards a new weight room. As of June 23, Sheetz, a company known for its generosity, has partnered with GAR to fundraise for a new fitness center. The proposed fitness center will be outfitted with aerobic and weight training equipment, including treadmills, stationary bicycles and weight machines. The center will be available for use by students and faculty, as well as the community.
Perhaps the most unique element of Wren's story was the fact that he was not fighting for a daughter that was currently denied the right to use a weight facility. He was fighting because he knew it was the right thing to do. With the willingness to write letters, talk on the phone and attend meetings, Wren got the ball rolling on a project that will benefit the entire community.
Editor's note: Thanks to the support of our members and donors the Women's Sports Foundation was able to help Richard Wren faciliate change. Show your committment to girls and women in sport by joining our organization today.