The University of Wisconsin has potentially violated all three pillars of Title IX, which was signed into law in 1972 seeking to prevent the discrimination of individuals under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance on the basis of sex. The three pillars include accommodating student interests, proportional financial assistance and equal benefits and opportunities.
This provision stands for all activities, but society has noticed a high importance towards the world of athletics. The first of the three pillars regards equal opportunity, which can be as simple as equal roster spots within the university.
The second goes into financial funding towards each gendered program, including scholarship funding, programing and game days.
Lastly, Title IX provides equal treatment and access to practice and competition space for both athletes. With this information, as well as the results of the 2023 U.S. Department of Education Equity in Athletics Data Analysis survey, the potential violation shows within all three pillars.
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The release of the “Building Champions” campaign has been critiqued in regards to its accordance with Title IX policy. Athletic Director Chris McIntosh, alongside the head football coach Luke Fickell, have begun production of the largest capital project in UW Athletics’ history at $285 million, according to the campaign.
This project will create a new football facility that will provide an extra 20 yards for a more realistic football experience. To complete the campaign, the Camp Randall Memorial Sports Center, nicknamed The Shell, was demolished.
The Shell opened in 1956 and housed a 200-meter track. It remained the home of indoor track and field for both men and women, up until its last day, April 19, 2023. With this demolition, track and field has lost an indoor practice and competition space.
Senior track athlete Maggie Munson said this could be a Title IX violation.
The production of the modern, high-end football facility, which has not yet begun, will eliminate an indoor competition space for the track and field program and a practice space for all pole vaulting athletes here at UW. This creates an imbalance and a space where a potential violation can occur, according to Munson.
“What they’re proposing would be a non-competition facility and it would be decreasing what is available for track and field, [while] increasing what is available with football,” Munson said. “Track and field has men and women — football is only men. That tips the scale.”
U.S. universities submit annual reports to the U.S. Department of Education as mandated by the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act, highlighting the first and second pillars of Title IX. The EADA provides all financial and participation information regarding men’s and women’s sports for universities.
According to the survey, UW spent $80,049,129 on total expenses towards men’s sports and only $25,781,626 on total expenses for women’s sports. Another important difference between the programs is the athletically related student aid handed out to athletes. UW provides $9,730,280 in scholarships to male athletes and only $8,075,714 in scholarships for female student-athletes.
For recruitment, the men’s sports programs are spending $1,664,199, while the women’s programs are only getting $574,132 to spend. In 2023, the headcount reported for men’s sports was 376 and there were 368 reported for women. All data is from the latest survey in 2023 and reveals potential violations of the first two pillars of Title IX.
CEO and founder of Voice In Sport Stef Strack created the organization to advocate for voices of women in sports. Strack said the data provided by the EADA can only be a potential violation of Title IX, as the universities themselves need to do the evaluation. Although this information has the potential to be biased, it could be a clear indicator that a problem exists.
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Strack said that to look into the equal treatment pillar, it is essential to look at the facilities offered to each program. If men’s sports have state-of-the-art facilities compared to a second-tier or older space for female athletes, that would show a violation. This was a problem before the demolition of The Shell, but now it is clear that football will have a brand new and upgraded facility, while the track and field program is left with nothing and is scrambling for a space to even practice.
To improve their athletic department and ensure higher support for their female athletes, universities can place greater focus on education and conversations surrounding Title IX regulations. In Voice In Sport, current collegiate athletes advocate for their schools and their programs. Munson is one of them.
They take the data given from the EADA surveys and highlight the current issues within the programs, such as the imbalance of recruitment and game day expenses. They also provide information on Title IX to ensure the leaders of athletic departments fully understand the law before making large decisions within their programs.
Having knowledge of the law and knowing how to apply it will help to eliminate the systemic discrimination that women have seen for decades, Strack said.
“As a leader, it is your duty to learn and understand where your school or organization is at,” Strack said. “Then be transparent about how you’re going to make change moving forward … at the end of the day, the people in the positions of power that are making the decisions need to be open and interested in learning, and then make the right decision moving forward.”
Female athletes like Munson are dedicated to standing strong in the face of this adversity.
“You belong here,” Munson said. “Be confident in your abilities. You have a place in college athletics.”