[higgmeister]

We discussed on another thread that the media has ignored the Title IX angle almost entirely. Many of these schools derive multi-million dollar annual cash flow from their NCAA standing in basketball and football. They are sort of forced to funnel this money into programs such as “ladies crew” and “women’s pole vaulting” even though these programs generate little to no income and little to no wider audience. What I am getting at is that the guy at the center of this fraud probably knew that some of these sports had few qualified applicants in the first place, and thus were more easy to exploit. They had the slots to fill. You can’t bribe your way in as the #1 state champ at the 200 meter sprint, or as a top running back or point guard. You will be an obvious fraud. But how many people pole vault?

Wow, I have no doubt you are right, but you made me think of the transgenders competing with hardly any pushback. Is it possibly the Title IX vacuum you described causing administrators, staff and even the media to soft pedal that issue to some degree?

[monkeyshine]

Possibly. To me they are separate questions. These big universities have track & field sports programs, softball, basketball, crew and many others. Title IX basically requires them to have the same program for men and women alike. Of course there are women pole vaulters, but how many are recruited vs how many are just so-so athletes but the program has openings. Now comes Mr. Bribe with $100,000 in a paper bag and the coach knows there isn’t going to be a top 10 or 20 ranked woman pole vaulter taking that slot. Those women are getting scholarships somewhere else or enrolling where the programs are better for that particular sport. So who in the admissions program is going to challenge the qualifications if the coach or AD says “So-and-so (who is going to pay cash for admission btw) should get some extra points on her admissions criteria because she can pole vault and we need to be more competitive in this area”.

I don’t mean to pick on just women, I am sure there is fraud among the male students too. It’s just that the news stories mentioned women’s crew and women’s pole vaulting in particular. It made me think of Title IX and how that is an obvious exploit for the scammer. I truly don’t know how Title IX applies to transgender people. I imagine that in the NCAA they still just go by ones chromosomes, not personal identity.