PLEASE, no more whining about gender equity being the prime reason for the demise of men's collegiate sports. 25 years is plenty of
time to get it rightThe fingers were pointing in that direction when Cal State Northridge sliced four men's sports from its athletic department last week. The decision was made, school officials said, in response to a suit settled out of court with the National Organization for Women's California chapter.
The entire Cal State University system was sued for allegedly violating provisions of Title IX, the federal civil rights legislation that prohibits discrimination at any educational institution receiving federal funds. Title IX applies to all educational programs, not just athletics, although it has become the standard-bearer for women's equity in intercollegiate sports.
Last week's news reports refer to the CSUN athletic department's $800,000 annual deficit as the reason for the cut. There was little mention that the monetary problems began with CSUN's decision to move up from Division II status to Division I seven years ago, a move that meant increasing scholarship funding.
The school had several options that would have saved some of the most popular sports on campus: men's volleyball, baseball and soccer. CSUN could have added two more women's sports without having to cut the men's programs, or -- heaven forbid -- it could have axed the I-AA football program, which had its best season since 1990 (7-4) last fall.
The CSU system was given until the fall of 1998 to comply with terms of the settlement. Little mention was made of how much time the system had to deal with the inevitable. The fact is the suit with NOW was filed in 1988 and settled five years ago, in 1992.
There also was no mention that colleges and universities -- not just the CSU system -- have had 25 years to come to terms with the athletic equality issue. Twenty-five years to the day tomorrow!
What's bothersome are the complaints from the athletic directors that they "suddenly" have to make these cuts to their men's programs. The truth is they've had a quarter of a century to comply with the law and have waited until the last minute do so, usually under the threat of more litigation.
Their drive-by cuts are nothing that couldn't have been prevented with some planning and foresight. As my mother always said, when you point a finger, look where the other fingers are pointing.
THE problem is, and always will be, the inequity in the number of football scholarships. There is no comparable women's sport that will balance out the 85 scholarships given in football.
The question is, why does football need that many scholarships? No other sport gives a fifth-string player a full ride. Heck, even the NFL gets by with a 45-man roster.
A veteran colleague argues that since football is the engine that drives the athletic department train, it should reap the benefits of that monetary stoking. He hasn't conceded that football is also the caboose that is the biggest single-sport money drain.
The saddest repercussion from Title IX is the discrimination against men's nonrevenue sports such as volleyball, wrestling, water polo, soccer, gymnastics and golf. Rather than take an aggressive approach to fund-raising or sponsorship, athletic departments are taking the easy way out with a giant eraser.
Gender equity is about equal opportunity and fairness to all. It is not a battle of the sexes.
There has to be a solution other than axing men's minor sports. Perhaps the NCAA should take some of that ridiculous amount of television revenue and fund minor sports for both genders.
Discrimination wasn't working 25 years ago. Reverse discrimination isn't going to work today.
Cindy Luis is a Star-Bulletin sportswriter.
Her column appears weekly.