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.” – Title IX
Title IX was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on June 23, 1972. Although not for the sole benefit of female athletes, those 37 words have been the backbone of growth in women’s sports. In the past 50 years, the WNBA, NWSL, PHF, and many more professional women’s sports leagues have been created, with many crediting Title IX as a major factor in their success.
It is important to note that Title IX is designed to provide equal opportunity regardless of sex, meaning, transgender and nonbinary athletes should also have the chance to compete with the gender they choose. Currently, the NESCAC conference and NCAA have several steps that need to be taken in order for a transgender or nonbinary athlete to compete. These include hormone treatment, blood testing, and other controversial measures. This has become a nationwide point of contention that athletes and advocates are focusing on to afford transgender and nonbinary athletes the same rights as their cisgender counterparts. For the purposes of this article, I will be referring to women and men to address societal standards, not negating the importance of transgender and nonbinary athletes.
Connecticut College was founded as a women’s college and has continued to champion them over a century later. Currently, Conn’s athletic department is led by our first female athletic director, Mo White. There are also 16 female coaches out of a total of 39, or roughly 40% of all Conn coaches are women, which is significantly higher than the national average of 25%.
Having ascended to the head of the department in 2019, Athletic Director Mo White is a product of Title IX. White played D1 tennis at Providence College after being a three-sport athlete in high school. She then went into the corporate sports world where she advocated for women and underrepresented groups. When she transitioned into coaching and sports administration, she noted that there “hadn’t been as much progress made” in her years away from sports for women and girls.
While working at Conn, White says she has noticed the commitment to opening doors for women in athletics and academics. “We’ve got a wonderful balance of women coaching women, and female administrators,” said White. “ I think that is something that the NESCAC is really committed to, as well as our president.”
One unique aspect of Conn athletics is there are more women’s sports than men’s sports. White says this is due to the gender make-up of Conn, which is roughly 40% men and 60% women. However, despite this makeup, our athlete totals are almost exactly 50-50 – meaning there is the same number of male athletes as there are females, which is the goal of Title IX.
The real benefits of Title IX are often things unseen. When she started at Conn, White set out to make sure that the department had the practices in place to maintain equality. “We set a meal per diem…so that’s how the team meal budgets are decided. We stay in the same kind of hotels (subject to availability)…we try and set guidance in terms of the type of buses…all of those good things make sure our student-athletes are receiving equitable experiences in terms of the benefits of Title IX,” said White.
On a national level, Division III schools have some work to do. “Division III has the largest participation gap between opportunities on men’s and women’s teams at 16%” according to the 2022 State of Women in College Sports report. The difference in median total expenses between men’s and women’s sports is $400K in favor of the men. This seems extreme but is actually fairly proportional to the participation ratio, which shows that because the participation of male athletes is higher in Division III athletics than female, men’s sports would require more money. Overall, the investment in individual athletes is roughly the same.
In the same report, a stark finding was the lack of an increase in female coaches. Since Title IX was passed, numbers have dropped from 90% to 43% of female coaches coaching women’s sports. This doesn’t mean that there wasn’t an increase in female coaches in the last 50 years, but it does mean that the increase has not kept pace with the increasing number of women’s sports available. At Conn, however, White says we’ve continued to give women opportunities: “I think Conn has done a really good job historically providing opportunities for women…to coach and be administrators and strength and conditioning coaches, and all the things that are necessary to support what we’re doing (in the athletic department.)”
Despite public prescription, we have made significant progress in gender equality in the last 50 years. Title IX doesn’t just affect athletics, but it lays the groundwork for other legislation against sexual harassment, hazing, and bullying, as well as for LGBT+ rights, academic curriculums, fine arts programs, and other activities. We are indebted to the Title IX Nine and thousands of others who fought for equal rights regardless of sex.
In the spirit of Title IX, there are a few resources to know of in case your rights are infringed upon:
– Know Your IX is a website that helps outline your rights, as well as toolkits to advocate for yourself in the face of injustice.
– The ACLU has a Gender Equity division with resources on laws regarding sex-segregated schools, sexual violence, pregnant and parenting teens, and athletics.
– More specifically to Conn, Rodmon King is the Title IX coordinator who is in charge of all oversight and implementation of Title IX compliance
– Finally, any reporting of sexual harassment or other breaches of Title IX compliance to a faculty or staff member will be reported to the Title IX office except if you speak to a confidential advocate. The 24/7 phone number is 860-460-9194, and other methods of contact can be found on the Office of Sexual Violence Prevention and Advocacy (SVPA) website. This number is monitored by several confidential advocates including the head of the SVPA office, Rachel Stewart, and the Interim Director of Gender and Sexuality Programs, Justin Mendillo. In addition to the phone number, confidential help can be found in Student Counseling Services, Student Health Services, and the College Chaplins.
Title IX is a vital component of the fabric of our society. The last 50 years have brought lots of change and opportunities for women, and hopefully, we’ll see even more advancement in the next 50.
