Over 100 James Madison University student athletes protested in front of the Department of Education Nov. 2 due to the university's cutting of 10 athletic teams not in compliance with Title IX regulations, according to the Inside Higher Ed Web site.
In 2005, AU decided to cut its men's and women's tennis and golf teams for budgetary reasons, according to Faculty Senate meeting minutes. The cut affected about 30 to 40 students and went into effect this year. The cuts were not made to comply with Title IX regulations.
JMU's Board of Visitors announced in September that it would cut seven men's teams and three women's teams according to Title IX regulations, which require schools receiving federal funds to have equal athletic opportunities for both men and women, according to Inside Higher Ed.
Since the JMU decision, students have criticized how the Education Department interprets Title IX and the lack of student input in the decision, according to Inside Higher Ed.
To comply with Title IX, the school must have the ratio of men and women in varsity sports match the gender ratio of the student body and must demonstrate a history of adding new sports or meeting existing student demand. JMU had to comply with the proportionality rule because two women's club teams had expressed the desire to become a varsity sport, and JMU could not afford to add new teams, according to Inside Higher Ed.
AU Assistant Athletic Director Athena Argyropoulos said AU was in compliance with Title IX and that it is an important piece of legislation.
"We had to have some sort of equality legislation because there weren't equal opportunities for women," she said. "We have to reflect the overall population of the university, and we do."
Some students say that Title IX discriminates against male athletes by forcing universities to cut popular men's sports teams.
"I believe that if compliance of Title IX comes at the expense of pre-existing boys' teams, that is a negative," said Alan Yuill, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs. "Otherwise, it's a positive and a good step forward."
Many people defend the importance of Title IX to women.
Heidi Hershberger, a varsity field hockey player and graduate student in the School of International Service, said she thinks Title IX has helped women make large strides in both athletics and academics, and from there, the working world.
"I do believe, however, that poorly conceived implementation of Title IX by university administrations can unfairly hurt some men's teams," Hershberger said.
After the cuts, 61 percent of varsity athletes at JMU will be female, in proportion to the student body. On July 1, 2007, the school will cut men's archery, cross country, gymnastics, indoor track, outdoor track, swimming and wrestling, as well as women's archery, fencing and gymnastics.
Of the 144 athletes who will be cut, only eight are receiving athletic scholarships, which the university will still honor, JMU spokesperson Andy Perrine said. JMU will save $548,000, money that will be redirected into scholarships for the athletic teams that remain, according to Inside Higher Ed.
Perrine said many factors were considered when deciding which teams to cut.
"There were a lot of different permutations involved," he said. "We looked at a lot of collections of sports that would get us to proportionality. We had to get from a 50-50 ratio to 61-39. The decision was triggered because there were no more options to come into compliance."
According to the Education Department, since 1972, when Title IX came into effect, the number of women in college had increased 20 percent by 1994, and the number of women in intercollegiate athletics quadrupled by 1997.
