In a written ruling a U.S.
District Court Judge has ruled that the University of Cincinnati did
not violate the gender equity requirements under Title IX by eliminating
the University’s women’s crew team.

The rowing team which was made
a varsity sport by the university in 2000 in part to meet Title IX requirements
accused the university of shortchanging the team on equipment, training
facilities and coaches and said that they had received less support
than comparable men’s teams had.

At that time the university
had drawn up plans to build a $3 million dollar boathouse on the Licking
River in Wilder, Ky that was to be partially funded by a $1 million
donation from a trustee.  The plan was dropped in 2004 when cost
estimates rose to nearly $6 million.

The lawsuit also charged that
the crew coaches are underpaid and that the team doesn’t get a certified
trainer to travel with them and that other male teams get priority for
use of common facilities.

Judge Thomas S. Rose ruled
against the team though because he noted that that percentage of female
athletes at the university was higher than the percentage of female
undergraduates which is a central formula of Title IX compliance.

Also even though the team now
only has club status they have access to a new athletic training center
which undermined their claim of unequal facilities.

What the women’s team apparently
didn’t understand is that Title IX doesn’t guarantee that a particular
women’s team is guaranteed the right to exist without regard to finances. 
The university did the right thing in this case by simply replacing
the crew team with another varsity sport, women’s lacrosse which helped
keep the school in Title IX compliance and reduced their costs as well.
Can anyone fault the school for trying to reign in spending?

This is probably of little
comfort to the crew team that lost it’s varsity status and school
funding, but they have now learned that Title IX can be a two-edged
sword.  In this case the sword cut through the heart of the team. 

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