USOC protest cuts
U.S. Olympics Committee interferes for first time with Title IX compliance
By Rachana Dixit, news editor
Posted on October 19, 2006

JMU’s decision to cut 10 varsity teams in order to be Title IX compliant has spurred student rallies, campaigns and protests ever since it was made. And now, the United States Olympic Committee has decided to get in the mix.

For the first time in its history, the USOC has entered a fight to save sports that were cut from a collegiate athletics program. As part of their response, USOC CEO James Scherr sent a letter Oct. 12 addressed to JMU President Linwood Rose and Athletic Director Jeff Bourne.

In the letter, Scherr said, “It is well documented that the spirit of the Title IX law is to ensure opportunities for participation in sport are proportional and fair for men and women. The intent of the law is not to discontinue sport programs for men or to eliminate Olympic sports from a university’s athletic program.”

Scherr added, “We have seen universities across the nation inappropriately use Title IX as an excuse to justify the elimination of sport programs, and far too often the programs dropped are Olympic sports,” and that the USOC “welcomes the opportunity to work with you in identifying viable alternatives to keep these intercollegiate sports alive at James Madison University.”

All cut sports have a direct connection to the Olympic movement. Recently, the USOC has looked into the decline of Olympic sports at the collegiate level. In 2004, a task force was formed between the USOC and the NCAA to investigate this issue and proper Title IX implementation.

Title IX was enacted in 1972 as an educational amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law requires educational institutions to maintain policies, practices and programs that do not discriminate against anyone based on sex. In addition, in 1996, the Office for Civil Rights issued a policy clarification with regard to the Title IX legislation, creating a three-part effective accommodation test to ensure compliance.

Under the test, a university may: Provide participation opportunities for women and men that are substantially proportionate to their respective rates of enrollment as full-time undergraduate students; Demonstrate a history and continuing practice of program expansion for the underrepresented sex; or fully and effectively accommodate the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex.

Though any of the three parts could have been followed, Bourne said proportionality was the best option for JMU.

“To try and go and add more sports just wasn’t an option for us,” Bourne said, adding that 220 female athletes would be needed to achieve gender equality. 

After receiving a hard copy of the USOC letter Tuesday, Bourne added that though he understands their position, the USOC failed to mention any alternatives to their decision.

“Unfortunately, the letter does not address any viable means of achieving compliance with the current law,” Bourne said. “At the end of the day, the interpretation of the law stands.”  He said that despite the USOC’s dissatisfaction with JMU’s actions, it will not affect the Board of Visitor’s decision.

Bourne said the university has been out of compliance with Title IX since the late 1970s and pressure increased on universities in the 1990s to become compliant. From 1999 to 2000, JMU studied the issue of compliance and decided to make scholarship cuts instead of cutting entire sports out of the program.

Before the cuts, JMU had 28 varsity sports teams, ranking it seventh in the United States for the most varsity teams sponsored.

If noncompliance continues, Bourne said the federal funding JMU receives could be at stake.  What is more likely, he said, is the university would be subject to more pressure from club programs to become varsity, and they would have to be willing to bring them to the varsity level.

Ultimately, Bourne said the Board of Visitors acted in the best way possible to maintain a high-quality athletics program.

“It’s a very difficult and trying time for the coaches and student athletes,” he said. But, “[The Board of Visitors] believe firmly in this direction and we will continue to move forward.”

USOC spokesman Darryl Siebel could not be reached for comment by the time of publication.