Title IX’s Dark Legacy
When the summer Olympics begin next month, commentators will point to young girls eagerly watching female track stars, soccer players, gymnasts and swimmers, and celebrate how Title IX, a law passed 40 years ago, has helped so many girls and young women have the chance to play sports.
That’s an important part of Title IX’s legacy.
Yet there’s another side to the story. It’s one that could be told by male gymnasts, swimmers, and track stars: And that’s how men’s sports teams have been sacrificed in order to achieve “proportionality” as demanded by those enforcing Title IX. Mothers concerned about their sons’ diminishing prospects might rightly bow out of Title IX’s anniversary celebrations, and ask why the focus continues to be solely on bolstering female participation on college campuses, even as young men fall further behind.
To better understand the problems caused by Title IX enforcement, one should talk to Andrew Valmon, the Olympic gold medal winner who will coach the men’s U.S. track and field team in London. When he returns in the fall, he is likely to be without a team to call his own. That is because the University of Maryland’s prestigious track and field program is not expected to resume for the 2012-2013 school year.