News Alert

This was in yesterday's New York Times (I was responding to this article):

To the Sports Editor:

When colleges consider budget cuts, male athletes will always bear the brunt of those cuts because of Title IX’s demands. Title IX’s proportionality requirement mandates that the gender breakdown of athletes mirror the gender breakdown of the general student population.

Most colleges struggle to meet that demand and are left with the option of adding more women’s sports or cutting men’s teams. Combine that framework with the economic downturn, and it’s no surprise that colleges are cutting men’s teams in droves. If costs were the only consideration, there would be no reason for universities to disproportionately cut men’s teams.

People deserve to know the full story about Title IX’s impact on collegiate athletics so they can encourage lawmakers to rethink enforcement measures to ensure that they are fair to both sexes.

Allison Kasic
Washington

The writer is a director at the Independent Women’s Forum, a research and educational institution.