When will universities begin to comply with Title IX and end discrimination in women’s sports? Two more women’s sports teams are suing a university for sex discrimination in violation of Title IX. The University of Oregon’s women’s beach volleyball and women’s club rowing teams plan to sue the university for Title IX violations.
The two women’s teams will bring a sex discrimination class action against the university for “depriving its female student-athletes and potential student-athletes of equal treatment, athletic financial aid, and opportunities to participate in varsity intercollegiate athletics in violation of Title IX.” [2]
Players on the university’s women’s beach volleyball team claim that the university violated Title IX regulations for years. The women’s beach volleyball team has never received athletic financial aid in the 10 years it has been in existence. Additionally, there are no on campus practice facilities for the women’s beach volleyball team. Instead, the women are forced to practice at a public park. The University of Oregon claims they have been working since 2019 to identify a site on campus to build a beach volleyball facility, but the planning is taking longer than expected.[3]
49% of the University of Oregon’s varsity sport athletes in 2021-22 were women; however, the university spent only $20.4 million on its female athletes while spending over $60 million on its male athletes. Further, in 2021-22 the university spent $2.1 million on recruiting male athletes and only $389,324 on recruiting female athletes.[4]
According to a Bailey & Glasser lawyer, the law firm representing the women’s teams, the basis for the team’s claims are: (1) a lack of equitable financial aid; (2) poorer facilities compared to men’s sports; (3) disproportionate numbers of male varsity athletes; and (4) the University of Oregon has failed to create a gender equity plan.
In relation to the potential lawsuit, the University of Oregon’s director of issues and management stated, “We place a high priority on our women’s athletics programs at the University of Oregon, and we are proud of so many incredible and unique success stories and accomplishments in recent years by our female student-athletes…We strive to comply with all prongs of the three-part test, and as with many universities, relies most heavily on prong three, that the institution is fully and effectively accommodating the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex.”[5]
Title IX of the Education Amendment Act of 1972 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs that receive federal financial assistance. The 1979 Office of Civil Rights policy interpretation of Title IX provides a three-part for determining whether an athletic department discriminates in the provision of intercollegiate participation opportunities.[6] Schools need only to demonstrate that the athletic opportunities they offer satisfy one of the three parts of the test. Compliance is assessed using the following three part effective-accommodation test:
1. Whether intercollegiate level participation opportunities for male and female students are provided in numbers substantially proportionate to their enrollments
2. Is there a history or continuing practice of expanding program for the underrepresented sex which is responsive to the developing interest and abilities of the members of that sex; or
3. Are the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex fully and effectively accommodated by the present program?
This three-pronged test is often used by courts to determine if an athletic program is effectively accommodating women and complying with the requirements of Title IX. A university will not incur liability under Title IX if it can demonstrate that it satisfies one of the three prongs of this test.
According to the women’s claims, it appears that the University of Oregon is clearly in violation of all three prongs of the test. This potential lawsuit will be filed in federal court in Oregon.
[1] Featured Image: https://goducks.com/news/2022/4/27/womens-beach-volleyball-ducks-beat-utah-in-pac-12-opening-round.aspx
[2] https://www.dailyemerald.com/news/university-of-oregon-to-be-sued-for-title-ix-violations-in-women-s-sports/article_254cc3f2-5d76-11ee-a9bb-bfbd8be811a9.html
[3] https://www.kezi.com/news/uo-womens-beach-volleyball-and-womens-club-rowing-teams-plan-to-file-title-ix-lawsuit/article_1964b66c-5e6b-11ee-baf7-1ba7e6986dd5.html
[4] https://www.dailyemerald.com/news/university-of-oregon-to-be-sued-for-title-ix-violations-in-women-s-sports/article_254cc3f2-5d76-11ee-a9bb-bfbd8be811a9.html
[5] https://www.dailyemerald.com/news/university-of-oregon-to-be-sued-for-title-ix-violations-in-women-s-sports/article_254cc3f2-5d76-11ee-a9bb-bfbd8be811a9.html
[6] Redpath, Krista M., Analysis of Title IX and Gender Equity in College Athletics (2000). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers.