This document discusses the history and impact of Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funding. It explains that before Title IX, women did not have equal opportunities or access to facilities, equipment, or scholarships for sports. The document outlines how Title IX led to increased participation opportunities, scholarships, and professional sports programs for women. However, it also notes that Title IX has faced significant controversy and opposition from those who believe it negatively impacts men's sports programs.

1. Graham 1
Kristian Graham
October 14, 2011
4th period
Mrs. Corbett
Senior Project
Title IX Women’s Sports
Title IX stated that “No person in the U.S. shall, on the basis of sex be excluded from
participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational
program or activity receiving federal aid” (“About Title IX”). Before this law, women were not
entitled to the same facilities, equipment, scholarships or opportunities as men. Although it took
many years to achieve this, because of Title IX, women now have a chance to dream bigger and
achieve more.
Before Title IX, women struggled to be equal and to have the same rights as men.
Women understood that they would have to take a stand to make a difference. Edith Green, a
representative from Oregon, began this change and introduced the idea of Title IX stating that
educational institutions that receive federal funds had to provide equal opportunities in all
activities for girls and boys (“Gender Bias”). If it was not for Green’s realization that women
were treated unfairly, women might not have received the same opportunities that they have been
given. In the 60s and 70s, most women would not dare to dream about playing sports at an
advanced level; therefore, with Green’s courageous stand against society, the cards began to turn
and impact women in a positive way that they would have never imagined. In 1975, after three
years of provisions and reasoning, Title IX fulfilled the requirements to be signed into law (“Title
IX”). Women’s equal rights were finally beginning to look up because they were beginning to

2. Graham 2
have their fair share in athletics. Women realized that they were now getting the chance to prove
themselves athletically and show everyone they were capable of impacting sports in a positive
way. Although Title IX was called into action, there were certain aspects to keep in mind.
Once Title IX came into effect, its focus was to give women a fair chance to prove and
further themselves in education and athletics. Therefore, even though Title IX applies to a variety
of programs, “it has received the most attention for its impact on athletics, especially at the
collegiate level” (“Title IX”). These changes have given women the opportunity to play sports in
college by requiring schools to offer them access to supplies, equipment, scholarships, and other
things that were previously reserved for men only. Allowing women to have a fair chance of
playing sports in college gave them a chance to advance themselves in ways such as receiving
scholarships or playing professionally. Furthermore, Title IX supplied a major boost to women’s
opportunities to participate in sports across the nation and resulted in the expansion of women’s
professional sports (“Gender Prejudice”). Before the introduction of Title IX, the idea of women
playing professional sports would sound completely absurd. However, Title IX proved that
anything is possible. The 1979 Policy Interpretation stated that “Title IX regulation for athletics
requires compliance in financial assistance, accommodation of interest and abilities, and other
program areas; the Policy Interpretation may also apply to club, intramural, and inter-scholastic
athletic programs” (Kwon). As previously stated, Title IX has made a huge impact on women's
college sports; however, Title IX took that action a step further. Not only did women have a
chance to be successful with their sport, but they also had the same right as men do to leisurely
participate in athletic activities. NOW, also known as the National Organization for Women,
stated that “athletic scholarships for women were virtually non-existent prior to Title IX, but by
2003, there was more than $1 million in scholarships for women at Division I schools”

3. Graham 3
(“Education and Title IX”). Creating Title IX brought hope to women all across the United
States by allowing them to participate and be successful in playing a sport that they loved.
Allowing women to be eligible for scholarship money allowed many women to fulfill their
dreams and ambitions. Along with the equal opportunities that women now enjoy, rules and
regulations were set to hold schools responsible for following the basis of Title IX.
After enacting Title IX, legislatures had to develop a way to hold schools accountable. To
validate if a school’s athletic department was in compliance with gender equity laws, the
Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, also known as the OCR, developed a three-
prong approach (Holdsworth). This approach insured that schools follow the rules set forth by
Title IX. If the schools did not meet at least one of the criteria, they were not in agreement with
the stated law. The first prong stated that “to satisfy the first prong of the gender equity test, a
school must show that the athletic participation rates by gender are within five percent of the
enrollment rate for that gender” (Holdsworth). This means that schools must monitor whether or
not the athletic participation was in sync with enrollment rates for a particular gender. If this was
not in place, it would be difficult for girls to gain equal footing in an area such as athletics. In
addition to the first prong, “schools may also be in compliance if they satisfy the second prong—
providing evidence that the schools has a history and current practice of program expansion for
girls” (Holdsworth). Schools must prove that they were doing everything in their power to insure
that girls had the same privileges as the boys at that particular school. Also, because of this, girls
were receiving more opportunities to explore their talents and pursue post secondary options.
The third prong stated that “the school must demonstrate that it offers an athletic opportunity for
girls if there is a sufficient interest and ability in a particular sport” (Holdsworth). This means
that if there were more boys’ teams than girls’ teams at a school, and girls would like to create

4. Graham 4
another sports team, then the school must be willing to accept their request. Therefore, schools
should show just as much respect to the girls and their wishes as they would the wishes of the
boys. However, enforcing all of these rules for women and their equality has brought much
controversy into society.
Despite the many successes of Title IX, standing up for women's rights and equal
opportunities has brought forth many problems over the years. It was obvious that Title IX “has
played an important but controversial role in expanding athletic opportunities for women and
girls” (Kwon). Throughout history, men have felt superior to women. In more recent times, men
felt that women could not be successful in athletics, and they have not understood why women
were given equal opportunities to play competitively. People have argued that the three-part test
for assessing Title IX compliance has created intense disagreement about the intent and purpose
of Title IX, and that it presented limitations that discriminate against males and cause budget
deficits for male athletics (Kwon). Men have strongly expressed that they did not agree with Title
IX and its regulations because Title IX negatively impacted men and their sports programs.
However, men might be letting their outrage get in the way of their rational thinking, and if they
could step back and look at the big picture, they could realize that they were not being penalized
by Title IX's rules and regulations; women were only being brought to the same level as men.
Other people argued that “since females are inherently less interested in playing sports than
males, the test embodies a misinterpretation of Title IX” (Kwon). In reality, most people did not
take women's sports as seriously as they did men's. Therefore, people felt that women should not
have the same privileges and opportunities that men did in athletics. Even after thirty years, Title
IX stirred up quarrels and legal wrangling, and USA Wrestling’s Garry Abbott expressed that
“it’s the slaughter season” during the spring (Maher). Once springtime came around, it was time

5. Graham 5
to hand out new scholarships, and since women had to have their fair share, men complained that
their programs were suffering. With an uproar of bickering and complaining, many feuds were
present between many coaches and players for both men and women athletics because of their
feelings against Title IX. Crawford, a track coach for men’s and women’s track at California
Polytechnic State University, stated that “Title IX has pitted men and women against one another
and has created hard feelings among sports people; with Title IX, they righted a wrong with
another wrong” (Maher). Title IX was created in order to improve women's sports programs and
had no intentions of penalizing men and their athletics. However, men saw this law as a negative
impact on society and believed that what was meant to benefit females had turned into men's
misfortune. Another controversial concern was the inequities in salaries for coaches of women’s
teams comparable to the coaches of men’s teams (Claussen). Allowing women's sports to
continually grow meant more coaches and more money to be divided. This caused many
problems because coaches expected to be paid the same as any other coach for any sport. Joplin
expressed that despite the gains in access to athletic participation for girls and women, athletic
equity was not a reality; “for every $1 spent on women’s college sports, $3 is spent on men’s”
(Joplin). This proved that even with Title IX, women sports were still not accepted as equal.
Although women had the chance to succesfully acheieve their dreams, men still absorbed the
majority of the fans’ attention. In the end, men still had the advantage and dominated in athletics.
Without Edith Green’s apprehension of the unfairness presented in athletics between men
and women, women would not be in the position that they were in today. With all of the rules
and regulations that Title IX presented, there was much controversy between women and men,
coaches and players, and it relayed many problems in the athletic world. Nevertheless, without

6. Graham 6
the acknowledgement of Title IX, women would not be represented fairly in sports at any
intercollegiate or collegiate level.
Works Cited

7. Graham 7
“About Title IX.” Gender Equity in Sports . N.p., 23 Feb. 2006. Web. 18 Nov. 2011.
<http://bailiwick.lib.uiowa.edu/‌ge/‌aboutRE.html>.
Claussen, Cathryn L. “Title IX Has Improved Sports Programs.” Gale Opposing Viewpoints in
Context. Gale Cengage Learning, 2011. Web. 17 Oct. 2011.
<http://ic.galegroup.com/‌ic/‌ovic/‌ViewpointsDetailsPage/‌ViewpointsDetailsWindow?
displayGroupName=Viewpoints&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=OVIC&action=e&
windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010691221&mode=view>.
Comstock, Joni. “Statements from NCAA Officials Regarding Department of Education Title IX
Announcement .” National Collegiate Athletic Association. N.p., 2011. Web. 17 Nov.
2011. <http://www.ncaa.org/‌wps/‌portal/‌ncaahome?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/‌ncaa/‌
NCAA/‌Media+and+Events/‌Press+Room/‌News+Release+Archive/‌2010/‌Official+Stateme
nts/‌20100420+Title+IX+Statement>.
“Education and Title IX.” National Organization for Women . N.p., 1995-2011. Web. 16 Nov.
2011. <http://www.now.org/‌issues/‌title_ix/‌index.html>.
“Gender Bias.” Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale Cenage Learning, 2001. Web. 17 Nov.
2011. <http://go.galegroup.com/‌ps/‌i.do?id=GALE
%7CCX3406000278&v=2.1&u=cant48040&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w>.
“Gender Prejudice.” Global Issues in Context. Gale Cenage Learning, 2007. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.
<http://find.galegroup.com/‌gic/‌infomark.do?
&contentSet=EBKS&idigest=b527955b5caccdb4b4a2d40e86fe061a&type=retrieve&tabI
D=T001&prodId=GIC&docId=CX2831400017&source=gale&userGroupName=cant480
40&version=1.0>.

8. Graham 8
Holdsworth, Janet M. “Title IX.” Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale Cenage Learning , 2003.
Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://go.galegroup.com/‌ps/‌i.do?id=GALE
%7CCX3403200627&v=2.1&u=cant48040&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w>.
Joplin, Linda. “Twenty-Five Years After Title IX: Women Gain in Steps, Not Leaps.” National
Organization for Women . N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. <http://www.now.org/‌nnt/‌05-97/‌
titleix.html>.
Kwon, Andrea. “Title IX and Girls’ Sports.” Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale Cenage
Learning, 2006. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. <http://go.galegroup.com/‌ps/‌i.do?id=GALE
%7CCX3402800413&v=2.1&u=cant48040&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w>.
Maher, John. “Title IX controversy; On law’s 30-year anniversary, men’s and women’s sports are
still competing.” Global Issues in Context. Gale Cenage Learning, 24 June 2002. Web. 16
Nov. 2011. <http://find.galegroup.com/‌gic/‌infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-
Documents&idigest=b527955b5caccdb4b4a2d40e86fe061a&type=retrieve&tabID=T004
&prodId=GIC&docId=CJ87743649&source=gale&userGroupName=cant48040&version
=1.0>.
“Title IX.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition, 2011.
Web. 14 Oct. 2011. <http://www.school.eb.com/‌eb/‌article-9125072>.

9. Graham 9