Delaware State Settles Gender-Equity Lawsuit

[superman7515]

DSU Settles Gender-Equity Lawsuit, Will Equalize Spending On Varsity Sports (http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20101022/NEWS/101022035/DSU-settles-gender-equity-lawsuit-will-equalize-spending-on-varsity-sports)


Currently the school's population is about 61 percent female but only 42 percent of the school's varsity athletes are women, a 19 percent gap that DSU will now have to close by 2013 to within 2.5 percentage points.

Fletman said DSU has failed to meet the Title IX standard for at least the past five years and may never have met the standard set by the gender equity law that was passed in 1972.

DSU also will also have to increase funding for the recruitment of female athletes over the next five years until it equals that spent on recruiting male athletes.

Currently, Fletman said DSU only spends 26 percent of its recruitment money on females and in some years the rate has been as low as 9 percent.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Currently the school's population is about 61 percent female but only 42 percent of the school's varsity athletes are women, a 19 percent gap that DSU will now have to close by 2013 to within 2.5 percentage points.

A stricter standard (2.5%) than what has been expected in the past (5%).

A brand-new standard that didn't exist before - spending on recruiting of female athletes. Now, it's not enough to spend more on women's sports, sponsor expensive sports for female athletes only (like equestrian, with horse boarding costs, maintenance, etc.) and balance the number of athletes - you now need to spend the same amount recruiting them as you do the men.

All this, and you can't cut any sport with female athletes - no matter how costly - to meet your Title IX requirements.

This may not be good.

[Bogus Megapardus]

A stricter standard (2.5%) than what has been expected in the past (5%).

A brand-new standard that didn't exist before - spending on recruiting of female athletes. Now, it's not enough to spend more on women's sports, sponsor expensive sports for female athletes only (like equestrian, with horse boarding costs, maintenance, etc.) and balance the number of athletes - you now need to spend the same amount recruiting them as you do the men.

All this, and you can't cut any sport with female athletes - no matter how costly - to meet your Title IX requirements.

This may not be good.

Those figures appear to have been negotiated and agreed to by Delaware State as part of the settlement of the lawsuit. If that is the case, I don't think those numbers would apply to anybody else.

I wonder if Delaware State fully realizes what it is getting itself into by agreeing to the "recruiting" part. It could be that someone has been reading too many Erin Buzuvis blogs and is mistaking her one-sided opinions for the actual law.

[Blueandwhitefightfight]

Title IX doesn't make any sense to me. I mean, it's great that the ladies are being looked out for. However the truth is that there is not as many female athletes as there are male athletes. Look at 99% of high schools and, not counting cheerleaders, figure out the ratio. And it gets really ridiculous considering how many scholarships football offers. You have to have about 4-5 womens teams just to offset football.

Epic fail of a rule.

[superman7515]

Those figures appear to have been negotiated and agreed to by Delaware State as part of the settlement of the lawsuit. If that is the case, I don't think those numbers would apply to anybody else.

That's true, but I have to wonder if this will lead to a slippery slope where other schools who will face similar lawsuits in the future will face the demand if they wish to settle out of court.

[Bogus Megapardus]

Title IX doesn't make any sense to me. I mean, it's great that the ladies are being looked out for. However the truth is that there is not as many female athletes as there are male athletes. Look at 99% of high schools and, not counting cheerleaders, figure out the ratio. And it gets really ridiculous considering how many scholarships football offers. You have to have about 4-5 womens teams just to offset football.

Epic fail of a rule.

Well, I can't quite agree with you there. Title IX requires equal opportunity in higher education for males and females. The ability to participate in athletics is a part of higher education at most colleges.

If a college positions itself to appeal to male and female athletes, and seeks their applications (and money), it ought to have enough participation opportunities for both.


That's true, but I have to wonder if this will lead to a slippery slope where other schools who will face similar lawsuits in the future will face the demand if they wish to settle out of court.

Most Title IX suits are now focused on sexual harassment, retaliation and transgender bias. It has devolved into something of an ambulance-chasing adventure, for profit. The purely remedial goals of the law, as originally enacted, are all but lost.

Erin Buzuvis, who writes an opinionated blog that many seem to think is the gospel in this area, is pushing hard for transgender equity under Title IX. I am not overstating her position by saying that she would like all colleges to spend the same amount recruiting transgender applicants for what are now singe-sex sports. That is the slippery slope I see on the horizon.

[iliketitleix]

Title IX doesn't make any sense to me. I mean, it's great that the ladies are being looked out for. However the truth is that there is not as many female athletes as there are male athletes. Look at 99% of high schools and, not counting cheerleaders, figure out the ratio. And it gets really ridiculous considering how many scholarships football offers. You have to have about 4-5 womens teams just to offset football.

Epic fail of a rule.

From http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/Content/Articles/Issues/Title-IX/M/Mythbusting-What-Every-Female-Athlete-Should-Know.aspx

DID YOU KNOW that schools cannot use a myth that "boys are more interested in sports than girls," to justify providing more participation opportunities for boys than girls?

There is no research that shows that boys are more interested in sports than girls. We do know that girls are just as interested in sports as boys when they are young. A combination of lack of opportunity, lack of peer group support when they do play sports and lack of encouragement causes them to drop out of sports at a rate that is six times greater than boys.

[Bogus Megapardus]

DID YOU KNOW that schools cannot use a myth that "boys are more interested in sports than girls," to justify providing more participation opportunities for boys than girls?

This is absolutely true. And by and large, boys and girls are interested in the same kinds of sports. Witness the proliferation of women's ice hockey, wrestling, rugby, lacrosse and soccer at NCAA institutions.



There is no research that shows that boys are more interested in sports than girls.

Yes there is - lots of it - but much of it seems to be ill-founded. There's plenty of research to the contrary as well.


A combination of lack of opportunity, lack of peer group support when they do play sports and lack of encouragement causes them to drop out of sports at a rate that is six times greater than boys.

Most colleges seek and provide athletic opportunities to talented female athletes in equal measure to the historic ratios in their student population. Should private colleges also be held responsible for remedying, proactively and affirmatively, any objectively-calculated lack of peer group support and encouragement that girls might have experienced when they were younger?

[WestCoastAggie]

Man. This just might be the ball that rolls DSU right into the NEC. DSU needs to field more women's sports and a move to the NEC will not only provide those sports but it will reduce their Scholly $$$ amount, helping soften the blow of the increased expenses from these new women's sports.

DSU, it was great while it lasted.

DSU's time in the meac
1970 - 2011.

[DSUrocks07]

Man. This just might be the ball that rolls DSU right into the NEC. DSU needs to field more women's sports and a move to the NEC will not only provide those sports but it will reduce their Scholly $$$ amount, helping soften the blow of the increased expenses from these new women's sports.

DSU, it was great while it lasted.

DSU's time in the meac
1970 - 2011.

It has to be something to really consider, and I hope that our administration is AT LEAST looking into that option, lest we become another Coppin or UMES. :( xcryx

A quick look at the womens sports that the MEAC offers versus those that the NEC offers (and prolly those that the America East offers as well...just for kicks xwhistlex) would be the obvious first step, combine that with the reduced travel expenses and FINALLY being a part of our true market. (most of our Alumni live on the Northeast Corridor, yet we are the northern most school in our conference, AND I can't remember the last time we played a game in the northeast).

Yet I fear that this is all for naught :(

[MR. CHICKEN]

It has to be something to really consider, and I hope that our administration is AT LEAST looking into that option, lest we become another Coppin or UMES. :( xcryx

A quick look at the womens sports that the MEAC offers versus those that the NEC offers (and prolly those that the America East offers as well...just for kicks xwhistlex) would be the obvious first step, combine that with the reduced travel expenses and FINALLY being a part of our true market. (most of our Alumni live on the Northeast Corridor, yet we are the northern most school in our conference, AND I can't remember the last time we played a game in the northeast).

Yet I fear that this is all for naught :(

DSU'S...STUDENTS/ALUMS.....FOUND SESSOMS....HANGIN' LIKE UH XMAS ORNAMENT....IN UH TALL MAPLE...'CAUSE HE WANTED DUH NATIONAL ANTHEM..OVERAH YER BLACK PRIDE JAM.....YER SKOOL RESISTS CHANGE....MO' DEN...WHEN DUH SOUFF....TOOK ON DUH NORFF.....DSU=HBCU....NEC NOT HAPPENIN'...xsmhx...BRAWK!!

[BlueHenSinfonian]

Man. This just might be the ball that rolls DSU right into the NEC. DSU needs to field more women's sports and a move to the NEC will not only provide those sports but it will reduce their Scholly $$$ amount, helping soften the blow of the increased expenses from these new women's sports.

DSU, it was great while it lasted.

DSU's time in the meac
1970 - 2011.

So DSU gets busted for some financial shenanigans and they get a conference upgrade to the NEC out of it? Sounds like a nice deal.

[DSUrocks07]

So DSU gets busted for some financial shenanigans and they get a conference upgrade to the NEC out of it? Sounds like a nice deal.

Wouldn't be the first time (i.e. Michigan) xwhistlex

Besides the talks of a conference move have been in the works for some time now. This situation might be the kick in the rear that makes it happen. If it comes down to a move such as this or dropping football to meet the strict budget requirements necessary for Title IX compliance, lets just say I hope that the conference commish on the other line is willing to talk.

[DSUrocks07]

DSU'S...STUDENTS/ALUMS.....FOUND SESSOMS....HANGIN' LIKE UH XMAS ORNAMENT....IN UH TALL MAPLE...'CAUSE HE WANTED DUH NATIONAL ANTHEM..OVERAH YER BLACK PRIDE JAM.....YER SKOOL RESISTS CHANGE....MO' DEN...WHEN DUH SOUFF....TOOK ON DUH NORFF.....DSU=HBCU....NEC NOT HAPPENIN'...xsmhx...BRAWK!!

I think that the Alumni Association's biggest gripe was Sessoms heavyhanded approach. If the DSU AA were presented with the facts of the current state of DSU athletics then maybe they will listen to common sense...either that or look forward to a "homecoming" featuring our club football squad.

[BlueHenSinfonian]

I think that the Alumni Association's biggest gripe was Sessoms heavyhanded approach. If the DSU AA were presented with the facts of the current state of DSU athletics then maybe they will listen to common sense...either that or look forward to a "homecoming" featuring our club football squad.

I wonder if DSU is going to get paid to come to Newark for the new series starting up. Since it can't be home/home due to the limitations of Alumni Stadium, DSU brought a record playoff crowd in '07, and UD needs a replacement for Westchester, it could make sense...

[DSUrocks07]

I wonder if DSU is going to get paid to come to Newark for the new series starting up. Since it can't be home/home due to the limitations of Alumni Stadium, DSU brought a record playoff crowd in '07, and UD needs a replacement for Westchester, it could make sense...

The West Chester-UD series is up after 2012, and although some Blue Hens on here (continue to) gripe about it, DSU-UD will be a good series to have for both schools. And the game does draw a crowd, and hopefully we can get our ish together and drum up some local fan support, build up a stadium so it can be a true home and home series. One can dream at least...

Besides, all this talk about "a culture change/shock", what's stopping us from scheduling a MEAC team as part of our OOC? I'm sure that the southern schools of the MEAC would much rather just have us as strictly a home game.

[MR. CHICKEN]

I wonder if DSU is going to get paid to come to Newark for the new series starting up. Since it can't be home/home due to the limitations of Alumni Stadium, DSU brought a record playoff crowd in '07, and UD needs a replacement for Westchester, it could make sense...

AH BELIEVE..SOMEWHERE IN DUH SERIES....DSU...WILL BE CONSIDERED DUH HOMEY....WHIFF PAY...LIKE SUCH..........xnodx...AWK!!

[Mr. C]

Title IX doesn't make any sense to me. I mean, it's great that the ladies are being looked out for. However the truth is that there is not as many female athletes as there are male athletes. Look at 99% of high schools and, not counting cheerleaders, figure out the ratio. And it gets really ridiculous considering how many scholarships football offers. You have to have about 4-5 womens teams just to offset football.

Epic fail of a rule.

As a father of two daughters, I couldn't disagree with you more. Why should football be a sacred cow in terms of equity? There is NO reason why schools can't meet the Title IX standard.

[Mr. C]

A stricter standard (2.5%) than what has been expected in the past (5%).

A brand-new standard that didn't exist before - spending on recruiting of female athletes. Now, it's not enough to spend more on women's sports, sponsor expensive sports for female athletes only (like equestrian, with horse boarding costs, maintenance, etc.) and balance the number of athletes - you now need to spend the same amount recruiting them as you do the men.

All this, and you can't cut any sport with female athletes - no matter how costly - to meet your Title IX requirements.

This may not be good.

Delaware State created this problem by being so out of compliance for so long. It's unbelievable they were allowed to do this for so long. The chickens (Blue Hens?) have come home to roost.

[superman7515]

Delaware State created this problem by being so out of compliance for so long. It's unbelievable they were allowed to do this for so long. The chickens (Blue Hens?) have come home to roost.

Considering Delaware State is the Hornets, I fail to see what this has to do with the Blue Hens... Are you the guy who kept voting Delaware State to a #3 ranking even though they were 0-5?

[Blueandwhitefightfight]

As a father of two daughters, I couldn't disagree with you more. Why should football be a sacred cow in terms of equity? There is NO reason why schools can't meet the Title IX standard.


Why? Because what womens sport gives out 63-85 scholarships? That's just for ONE sport. Also, because we live in America and everything here is based on $$$. Most schools wouldn't have an athletic dept. at all if it weren't for football and/or basketball. It makes sense to spend more on these sports as they are the ones which bring back revenue.

I did some research on Title IX. Turns out over 400 mens teams were axed because of it. Instead of adding womens sports, a lot of universities and colleges just cut guys sports. How does that help the ladies? It doesn't at all.


Don't misinterpret what I'm saying. I am all for helping the ladies. The law has great intentions.

But the bottom line is, helping the ladies shouldn't hurt the guys. And it has, is, and will continue to do so as long as Title IX is out there.

[citdog]

chicks shouldn't play sports. it takes time away from making the two most important things in life. babies and sammis.