Title IX
...ity College vs. Bell, the Supreme Court ruled that only the programs that receive federal funding and no the entire college fall under Title IX. In 1988 the Civil Rights Restoration Act overturns the Grove City decision, saying Title IX applies to all operations of a college receiving federal funds. In Franklin vs. Gwinnett County Public Schools, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that plaintiff’s filing Title IX law suits are entitled to receive punitive damages. Shortly after this 1992 ruling the NCAA publishes a Gender-Equity study of its member institutions. U.S. District Court Judges Ernest Torres approved Brown University’s plan for complying with Title IX, the final issue in the lawsuit that has become the standard for compliance. Brown agrees to keep the percentage of female athletes within 3.5 percent of Brown’s female student total. In 2002 the National Wrestling Coaches Association files a suit to help male sports from being eliminated by schools for the purpose of following the Title IX guidelines. The Justice Department threw out the case stating that upcoming law suits must be against an individual institution. Also in the fall of 2002, the first of four public forums on Title IX is held in Atlanta. The big debate with Title IX is that schools are supposed to keep the percentage of athletes and percentage of students as close as possible. The problem with this is that the average percentage of women in college is 53 percent making the men’s percentage 47 percent. The dilemma that comes with this is that in college men’s football takes up a lot of athletic spots and money. Since women have no equal to football, it is extremely hard to keep the percentages proportional. On one side of the debate are women like Cynthia Cooper, Debbie Yow and the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA). These people believe that Title IX’s equity calculations are misleading due to that they count college football’s athletes and the dollars spent without considering the money making machine that football is. Cynthia Cooper also brings up the point, “Are you attending a university to play sports? If not, then why should you be counted for proportionality?” The NWCA filed a suit in early 2002 charging that Title IX regulations were discriminatory against males. The suit was dismissed by the Justice Department stating that any future suits should be brought against individual institutions. Even though the federal courts have upheld Title IX eight times, the NWCA has been joined by the College Gymnastics Association and the U.S. Track Coaches Association, giving them hope in future legal efforts. On the switch side are women like Julie Foudy, Bernice Sandler, and the National Women’s Law Center. These people who back Title IX claim that if colleges only spent a little less on football, they could have all the wrestlers they wanted. “When they do cut a men's team, I want them to be honest and straight with why they're cutting that team. And they're not cutting that team because of Title IX. They're cutting that team because it is a budget decision that they make,” says Nanc...