At some institutions, sports have been officially tiered i.e. supported and treated in significantly different fashions. When this occurs, it is important to realize that to select an equal number of men’s and women’s sports to be in the top tier will NOT be in compliance with Title IX if one of these sports is football. For example:
TIER I
Men’s Sports #S-As Women’s Sports #S-As
Football 104 Volleyball 14
Basketball 15 Basketball 15
Baseball 33 Soccer 25
TOTAL 152 TOTAL 54
Percentage 75% Percentage 25%
This institution would be out of compliance with Title IX since the law requires that the percentage of women in Tier 1 be the same as the proportion of women athletes at that institution. In this example, if the athletic population were 53% male and 47% female, then compliance with Title IX would necessitate something akin to the following chart:
TIER 1
Men’s Sports #S-As Women’s Sports #S-As
Football 104 Volleyball 14
Basketball 15 Basketball 15
Baseball 33 Soccer 25
Softball 19
Rowing 62
TOTAL 152 TOTAL 135
Percentage 53% Percentage 47%
At institutions where there has been no official tiering of sports but where there are significant differences in how football and/or men’s basketball are treated in comparison to women’s sports, a complaint of discrimination can be filed. Although most complaints and/or lawsuits in the last few decades have primarily dealt with participation violations, it is likely that there will be an increasing number of complaints and/or lawsuits that will deal with the disparate treatment of female student-athletes. An institution would be well advised to conduct an internal review in order to ensure that it is not vulnerable to complaints in this area.
