Henrietta Hay's Column

Recently I watched an hour long TV show on CNN, concerning women's collegiate sports and the effect Title IX has had on them. And on the same day one of the Denver papers had a very long story on the subject with lots of statistics. So I figured this was a good time to discuss what has happened in the 22 years since Title IX became law and that it was a pretty safe subject. Wrong.

Title IX, mandates that, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." That sounds quite reasonable to me. But since it became law in 1972 it has rated about the same level of importance as prohibitions against jay walking and spitting on the sidewalk.

A policy, which could have been implemented gradually and fairly painlessly over two decades, was virtually ignored and now it is causing consternation in colleges and universities across the country. Not surprisingly, guess who is getting blamed. The women. Organizations like the Women's Sports Foundation and the National Women's Law Center are now saying, you've had 22 years to work on it. It's time to act. It's the law." The college administrations and athletic departments are saying, "Well, don't rush us. We're working on it. We can't cut the men's programs."

That's not good enough. Gender equity it is called in the sports world. It means, very simply, "more sports programs for women or no more big federal bucks, and this time we mean it. " It has become the equivalent of a four-letter word in most athletic departments.

In my college days and for a lot of years after that women's sports were strictly intramural. We had one gym teacher who coached everything and acted as a sort of den mother.

It simply never occurred to the powers that be that women would want any more. After all, girls were not built for sports and were not competitive.

One of the pioneer sports figures who challenged idea that was Billie Jean King. A year after Title IX became law; Billie Jean and Bobby Riggs met in a nationally televised tennis match--a major battle of the sexes. I remember that night well. A group of local feminists and their husbands gathered to eat and drink and watch the excitement. Bobby was the ultimate cocky chauvinist and was so condescending that I think most of the men ended up cheering for Billie Jean. Billie Jean was the serious female athlete, and she beat him, but good. After her victory she commented with not too much humility, "Now they know that there are women who can walk and chew gum at the same time." They may have known it, but they didn't think it was important. Men's athletic programs grew and women's programs had to fight for every penny.

In the few days since CNN aired the Title IX program, and I started what was to be a fairly innocuous column, several stories have broken that make one question the whole sports program in this country.

Nancy Kerrigan had her knee bashed by a man allegedly hired by her competition's bodyguard. Coming not too long after Monica Selles was stabbed by a fan of her opponent, it makes one wonder whether the women really want to be in sports.

But the story that is really making waves in the sports world is the threat of collegiate male basketball coaches and players to start a boycott. The NCAA refused to renew a 14th scholarship for each school. The coaches are screaming, "Foul." Rob Parker, a sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press summed up the real but unspoken reason. "This whole scholarship thing is about gender equity. The NCAA wants to treat women's athletics better after years of neglect." You're darned right, they do, boys.

At C. U. men get 72% of the athletic scholarships. At Mesa State men get 78% of the scholarships. Other schools have comparable figures. Very few schools are in compliance. After 22 years the Bobby Riggs attitude is alive and well. But it's against the law and the women are starting to sue -- and they are winning. In fact, women athletes have yet to lose a Title IX case against a school.

I have decided that writing about sports is much too dangerous for me.