How Long Does Compliance Take?

On March 31, Kristine Newhall wrote on the Title IX blog about Liberty University, a Christian school in Virginia, and their recent decision to cut their wrestling program and make it a club sport only. The reason Liberty did this was to come into compliance with Title IX under the 2nd prong, which we learned in class was history of progress. This means the school must show that they are making a constant push to come into compliance with Title IX and have had a history of adding or taking away programs to do so. Wrestling was given the boot in this case at Liberty because it had a larger roster than other men’s sports, with 38 members total, and it was the only sport that was not affiliated with the Big South Conference. Liberty also stated that they planned on adding more women’s sports to their athletics department, while continuing to decrease roster sizes of some of their men’s sports. Kristine applauded the school for making such forward thinking motions, in such that they were planning ahead on how they were going to stay in compliance with Title IX in a few years, but she brought about a very interesting question. If Liberty is still working on coming into compliance with Title IX now, what was the school like back in 2006? And that then made me ask the question--just how long should compliance take? As we learned in class, Title IX was passed in the 1970s, felt considerable backlash and was almost discarded in the 1980s, and then received support to thrive in the 1990s. But this is 2011. Why are we still having such issues with compliance? I think one of the main reasons that schools find it difficult to comply with Title IX and make changes in order to fall under one of the prongs is simply because of money. Finances are set out and schools like knowing just where their money is going to. If a men’s team is cut and then two women’s teams are added, that is an extra set of financial assistance, opportunities for athletes, and, as we stated in class, the laundry list, which includes everything from equipment to recruiting. Having a school add another team that requires all of this scares them, which is why I think a lot of schools tend to just cut programs rather than try to come into the proportionality prong. However, as the Fresno State example shows us, cutting men’s programs is just a quick fix and will not allow schools to stay in compliance for long. I think what Liberty is doing may help them come under the 2nd prong compliance right now, but it is all a matter of whether or not they can continue to show a history of progress. I guess I just don’t understand why it has taken this long for a school to come under compliance. The three prongs, in my opinion offer plenty of opportunities to do so and it seems absurd to me that a school is still trying to work towards compliance after all these years.