RE: Gender Equity in W & M Sorts
Title Nine has been around for almost 50 years. It’s not a new kid on the block. No one disputes that the goal of Title Nine is the correct goal, but like most things that become federal legislation, there are unintended consequences, and proper repairs to those unintended consequences rarely occur.
For instance, Title Nine became a discriminatory piece of legislation in that it led to the dropping of male sports by various schools. Wrestling and male lacrosse were the casualties at W&M, forever altering the alumni composition at our school. The article is silent as to this issue.
Title Nine has an inherent flaw for schools like W&M. It includes a sport for which there is no equal female equivalent. That sport, unfortunately for monetary calculations and formulas, and compliance, costs the most to operate, and involves an inordinate number of male student athletes. The article evades this issue.
That same sport just happens to be the most diverse sport at the school, and is a major contributor to those “numbers” which are the joy of administrators everywhere. Put in other words, W&M’s ability to “satisfy” diversity goals is due, in large part, to one sport. The article does not address this issue.
Finally, at the very beginning, the article points out the number of female students, and the number of male students, at W&M. Yet, the article is silent as to the tremendous balancing act that the Athletics Department has done over the past decades in allocating resources among the teams, with a 60% female student body, and football being included in the formula. Some might say that this proves the point; I would respond by saying that there are practical issues that this federal legislation does not address.
Now, it’s time to be sassy.
First, I’m in the camp of those who believe that intercollegiate athletics are close to the beating heart of W&M, if not the heart itself. Anything that reduces the total number of athletes, male or female, is wrong, in my book. And if that’s going to happen because of Title Nine, my preference would be for the school to drop down to D-3.
Second, great coaches and staff .... yes, underpaid .... have been a hallmark of W&M athletics. I want great coaches and staff for W&M. To reach that goal, hiring and firing due to age, and gender, and ethnicity ... (did I mention age?), have no place at W&M. Discrimination works both ways.
Third, and I’ll stop here, I wonder if, on the academic side, there should be equality ... such as 50/50 male-female student body .... 50/50 conservative-liberal composition of faculty .... well, you get the point. Does anybody know the gender make-up of the faculty and academic support staff? The article is silent as to this as well.
(This post was last modified: 08-10-2019 06:57 AM by nj alum.)
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