The Good, The Bad, and Title IX
It’s no secret that 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX legislation being signed into law — especially if you work in athletics or higher education. The legislation has meant a lot of different things to a lot of different people, generations, genders, etc. It has afforded many people, women in particular, with opportunities that otherwise would not have been available to them.
Title IX is often referred to as “landmark legislation.” It was first signed into law on June 23, 1972, and it states that no person in the United States will be discriminated against “on the basis of sex” in any program that receives federal assistance. One of the most visible places we see Title IX today is gender equity and sport.
In its 50 years of existence, it’s played an interesting role for women in sports. Let’s start from the beginning.
During the 1960s, as women’s athletics were becoming more widely accepted as a legitimate entity, a need arose for an official governing organization for women’s athletics. Enter the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) in 1971. While there were other recognized structures that previously surrounded and governed women’s athletics, the AIAW was the first to truly fight for equality in the athletic and educational landscape for women.
Over the course of its 10 year existence, the AIAW grew its membership from 278 institutional members to nearly 1,000. That’s nearly 260% growth. With such rapid growth, including a million-dollar television contract with NBC, you may be asking, “what the heck happened to the AIAW?”
The simple answer: the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) happened.
Just as the AIAW began to pick up steam in the 1970s and into the early 1980s, the NCAA, which previously only governed men’s sports and actively lobbied against Title IX alleging the “ruin of men’s sports,” took an interest in hosting championships for women’s sports. In an ironic turn of events, they leaned on the exact legislation they had lobbied against – Title IX – to justify their semi-abrupt decision to sponsor women’s athletics at the collegiate level.
The NCAA’s decision to adopt women’s athletics and “merge” with the AIAW led to a marked decline in membership in the AIAW (from 961 members in 1980-81 to just 759 in the next year). This decrease in membership led to a decrease in funding for the AIAW. Meanwhile the NCAA, which had more legitimacy due to its reputation as the men’s college athletics governing body, was able to lean on existing membership dues from men’s college athletic programs, as well as gain additional dues from newly initiated women’s college athletic programs.
While the AIAW/NCAA relationship presented an opportunity for growth and additional exposure for women’s athletics, the “merger” ended up resulting in a dramatic struggle for power for control of women’s athletics that, in some ways, still continues today.
You may have noticed my intentional use of quotations around the word merger. This is the result of my recent conversations with Judy Sweet and Charlotte West, two trailblazers for women’s sport and Title IX.
For more context, Sweet’s résumé is impressive:
First female membership president of the NCAA in 1991
Major proponent of Title IX, and served as the Title IX representative of the Women Leaders in College Sports board, after having served as president there as well
Member of the US Olympic Committee’s Task Force on Minorities
Co-founder and former president of the board of the Alliance of Women Coaches
Earned the Honda Award for outstanding achievement in women’s athletics
Inducted into halls of fame at both the University of Wisconsin and UC San Diego
Recently earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from UC San Diego
Sweet shared her experiences during the “merger” and provided a look at why the AIAW ended up closing its doors for good in 1982.
“It’s really important not to use the word “merger,” said Sweet. “Because it really wasn’t a merger. It was, in many ways, a takeover. And when we talk about the growth that’s taken place in women’s athletics, it’s not necessarily because of the NCAA that that growth has taken place. The growth has taken place because there’s more visibility… What has happened as a result of the NCAA sponsoring championships, and having the funding, is more visibility. And that’s a real plus. Could that have happened with the AIAW? We’ll never know.”
A few days after I interviewed Sweet, I had a very similar conversation while interviewing West. West’s résumé is equally impressive:
Southern Illinois University’s (SIU) Director of Athletics for Women for nearly 30 years
Led the women’s golf team to a National Championship
Led the women’s basketball to a fifth place finish nationally
First ever recipient of the Honda Award, which is a national honor given for outstanding achievement in women’s collegiate athletics
First ever recipient of Women Leaders in College Sports’ Woman Administrator of the Year
Served as the Chair of the NCAA Committee on Financial Aid and Amateurism and as a member of the NCAA Athletic Certification Committee, the NCAA Gender Equity Committee, and numerous other NCAA Committees
Served as Director of National Championships (1975) and the President (1978), both for the AIAW
Served on the US Olympic Committee
Inducted into the NACDA Hall of Fame
Inducted into the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame
Inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted into the SIU Hall of Fame
The softball facility at SIU is named the Charlotte West Stadium
A room at NCAA headquarters has been named the Charlotte West room in her honor
As we spoke, West reiterated Sweet’s comments about the NCAA/AIAW “merger.”
“I don't think they understood the growth that we [the AIAW] would experience,” said West. “And we had 41 championships in 19 different sports when they finally – you were nice, you said merger, but it was a takeover.”
The NCAA’s decision to takeover the AIAW and sponsor women’s championships is one that has had lasting effects in athletics, particularly for women in leadership roles. Before we get there, though, I want to share an interesting statistic that I learned during my conversation with Sweet: in the history of Title IX’s existence, no universities have ever lost federal funding for failure to comply.
You read that right. ZERO institutions, over the course of Title IX’s 50 year existence, have lost federal funding as a result of Title IX infractions. We know the infractions exist, and we know that not everyone has complied to the full extent of the legislation at all times. So, why the empty threat?
Even the NCAA has handed down infractions – some more intense than others – to schools when they fail to comply with NCAA legislation. While the looming threat of Title IX legislation has obviously led to changes over the years, in and out of athletics, it does not make sense that there is no true consequence for non-compliance. Would the loss of federal funding lead to more compliance? Hopefully. Would it lead to more women in leadership roles in athletics? Also hopefully.
As Sweet mentioned, Title IX has led to an increase in participation in women’s sports since its inception. Per the NCAA, participation in women’s sports has jumped from 74,000 participants in 1982 to nearly 220,000 participants in 2021. Further, as of 2021, the NCAA sponsors more women’s sports than men’s sports (10,700+ sports for women vs. 9,200+ sports for men). Yet, even with more programs and incredible growth, men are still outpacing women in participation at nearly 280,000 participants.
The trend in upward participation in sport for women and girls is not the same for women in leadership roles in athletics. As an example, women held 90 percent of the coaching jobs for women’s teams in the years prior to the passage of Title IX in 1972, but as of 2019, women only held only 40.8 percent of those same roles.
Unfortunately, these statistics do not stop at coaching roles. Although the NCAA/AIAW takeover led to an increase in female athlete participation in sports, there has been a marked reduction in the number of women in senior decision-making roles within athletic departments. Additionally, according to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics and Sport (TIDES) annual report, in 2019, women only made up 10.5% of Division I athletics directors – compared to more than 90% prior to Title IX.
Recently, I had the opportunity to ask Jemele Hill a question on this exact topic during her keynote speech at the annual conference for the National Association for Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals. Check out the video to see how that went.
📹: Sophia Baur-Waisbord
So, what’s next? To simplify Jemele’s take: we need to have more courageous leaders in higher education and athletics. And, frankly, across the board.
As we celebrate this 50th anniversary of Title IX legislation being passed into law, we need to balance our feelings of gratitude with our continued fight for gender equity. One way to continue this balancing act is education.
At another panel at the conference I attended last month, former NCAA and WNBA standout Fran Harris mentioned (at 1:03:02 in the video below) that when it comes to Title IX, there is a need to keep the stories of early struggle alive. Harris suggested that women who battled their way through Title IX legislation for the right to play need to share this information with future generations so that the opportunities that exist today for women and girls in sport won’t be taken for granted.
To reiterate, we’re grateful for all the growth we’ve seen since 1972 (the good). We honor the struggles that the women before us have faced (the bad). And we have to continue to educate future generations about how we got here (Title IX).
Here are some places you can start:
Game Plan’s Power the Journey Podcast Title IX Miniseries with Judy Sweet and Charlotte West
Women Leaders in College Sports Podcast Episode with Mia Hamm and Danette Leighton
The NCAA’s State of Women in College Sports Report
If you know of additional resources, please leave a comment below and I’ll add it in.
