Free Republic

High school cheerleaders must now cheer for girls' teams as often as for boys' teams thanks to federal education officials' interpretations of Title IX, the civil rights law that mandates equal playing fields for both sexes. According to The New York Times, almost no one directly involved wants this -- not the cheerleaders, not the fans, not the boys' teams, and not even the girls' teams. But it doesn't matter: The law coerces cheerleaders to cheer at girls' games. Of all the myths that surround Left-Right differences, one of the greatest is that the Left values liberty more than the...

WHITNEY POINT, N.Y. — Thirty girls signed up for the cheerleading squad this winter at Whitney Point High School in upstate New York. But upon learning they would be waving their pompoms for the girls’ basketball team as well as the boys’, more than half of the aspiring cheerleaders dropped out. The eight remaining cheerleaders now awkwardly adjust their routines for whichever team is playing here on the home court — “Hands Up You Guys” becomes “Hands Up You Girls”— to comply with a new ruling from federal education officials interpreting Title IX, the law intended to guarantee gender equality...

For years, women's teams have been honing their game by practicing against men. A panel says the custom violates the spirit of gender equity. Practicing against men has been a women's basketball tradition for more than a quarter century, designed to allow women to push themselves against bigger, stronger opponents. "It's good for us because it makes us better," Gophers freshman Ashley Ellis-Milan said. But last month, the NCAA's Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA) called for a ban on male practice players. It concluded the custom violates the spirit of gender equity and Title IX, the 1972 federal law banning...

And right now, after the NCAA's Committee on Women's Athletics last week proposed a ban on the use of male practice players in women's intercollegiate athletics, there might not be a hotter topic in sports. [snip] According to the CWA's statement, "any inclusion of male practice players results in diminished participation opportunities for female student-athletes, contrary to the association's principles of gender equity, nondiscrimination, competitive equity and student-athlete well-being." [snip] Still, my biggest issue is that the CWA thinks it needs to regulate coaches. Basketball coaches should not be told whether their players are getting enough playing time or when...

About 100 student-athletes rallied in front of the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education yesterday to demand reforms to Title IX, the oft-debated law that calls for gender-equity in college sports. The students, many of them men who are members of sports teams recently eliminated by James Madison University, argued Title IX has forced the elimination of many sports teams across the country, and said a relaxing of rules will allow more students to play

Fairness: it’s one of the most prized values in American society. In our education system, fairness requires that schools and universities judge students on their merits and offer equal opportunities to all students. Yet fairness becomes a different measuring stick when it’s applied to gender issues on campus: one that’s used to prod women toward greater achievement and whack men. James Madison University’s (JMU) recent decision to eliminate ten sports teams is the latest example of the bizarre world of gender fairness on campus. For more than three decades, colleges across the country have struggled to comply with the federal...

HARRISONBURG, Va., Oct. 5 — The James Madison University men’s and women’s cross-country teams had run especially well against an elite field during a competition late last month in eastern Pennsylvania. Afterward, Coach Dave Rinker gathered a giddy, excited group of athletes with tears in his eyes. Rinker’s runners noticed he was not smiling. In the middle of the meet, back here on the James Madison campus, the university had announced it was eliminating men’s cross country and track, along with eight other, mostly men’s, sports to comply with Title IX, the federal gender-equity law. “Title IX was created in...

Something’s Missing on Campus by Carrie Lukas College students returning to campus find a familiar scene: closet-size dorm rooms, frat parties, and questionable food in the school cafeteria. But on some campuses something is missing this year: men’s sports teams. Students returning to Rutgers University will find that over the summer the university cut six teams: men’s heavyweight and lightweight crew, men’s and women’s fencing, men’s swimming and men’s tennis. Why did men’s athletics take the brunt of what university officials characterize as a necessary cost-cutting exercise? Title IX. An Associated Press article explained, “Rutgers’ commitment to Title IX guidelines...

The NCAA has appointed yet another female athletic director to help oversee the implementation of Title IX of the Education Amendments to the federal Civil Rights Act. Title IX, in order to create more opportunities for female athletes, simply choked off such chances for male athletes, as wrestlers, for example. Karen Morrison, who will serve as the NCAA director of gender initiatives and student-athlete well-being, comes to the job fresh from a posting as associate athletic director of the University of Colorado at Boulder, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. “I was one of those ‘Title IX babies’ who...

Conservatives across the nation’s campuses, take hope in dealing with radical feminists. Kate O’Beirne who’s newest book, Women Who Make the World Worse: and How Their Radical Feminist Assault Is Ruining Our Schools, Families, Military, and Sports, might be able to be a rallying point against a resurgent feminist movement. O’Beirne’s book names, names and provide quotes, detailing how feminists are hurting what they claim to be helping. “The modern women’s movement does not speak for most men and women,” she said in a recent speech to 50 college students at the 13th Eagle Forum Collegians (EFC) Annual Leadership Summit....

Last week, the University of Tennessee announced that it was raising another coach's salary to over $1 million per year. That wouldn't be news, except this wasn't the head coach of the football team (Phillip Fulmer makes twice that much) or the men's basketball team (Bruce Pearl recently got a raise to $1.1 million). No, this was the coach of the women's basketball team. Granted, Pat Summit is hardly your ordinary women's basketball coach. In 32 years as head coach of the Lady Vols, Summit has won 913 games, six national championships, and has had the court at UT's Thompson-Boling...

<p>It is common knowledge that American schoolboys are faring poorly compared with girls. The average 11th-grade boy has the writing skills of an 8th-grade girl. Boys receive a majority of the failing grades, while girls garner most of the honors. Women earn 57 percent of bachelor's degrees, a gender gap that experts predict will widen. So what are the Department of Education and National Science Foundation doing about the problem of male underachievement? Nothing. But they are conducting a review of math, physics and engineering programs at selected universities to root out supposed bias against women and girls.</p>

The Austin school district will pay $165,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a slain Reagan High student. The settlement, which does not include admission of wrongdoing by the district, ends a federal discrimination lawsuit brought by the estate of Ortralla Mosley, who was fatally stabbed by her former boyfriend, Marcus McTear, at Reagan in 2003. The plaintiffs had sought $13 million in the lawsuit, which was dismissed Tuesday. The Austin American-Statesman obtained details about the settlement agreement under the Texas Public Information Act. Under the terms that the school board approved Feb. 20, Mosley's mother, Carolyn...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Michaela Hutchison became the first girl in the nation to win a state high school wrestling title while competing against boys. Hutchison won the final of the 103-pound weight class during Alaska's big school wrestling championships. The Skyview High sophomore entered the state tournament ranked No. 1 in her weight class. Amid chants of "C'mon, Michaela" and "Girl power," Hutchison earned a 1-0 victory Saturday over Colony High School's Aaron Boss. She scored an escape with 16 seconds left to beat Boss for the second time in two weeks. Family and friends mobbed Hutchison as she walked...

This year's spectacular Rose Bowl game attracted a phenomenal 35.6 million viewers because it featured what we want: rugged men playing football and attractive women cheering them on. Americans of every class, men and women, remained glued to their television sets and nearly 95,000 spectators watched from the stands. The runaway success of this game proved again that stereotypical roles for men and women do not bother Americans one bit. Political correctness lost out as all-male teams battled and women cheered.

To all friends of strong, smart, and bold girls: Girls Inc. has empowered girls for over 141 years, first as Girls Clubs of America and since 1990 as Girls Incorporated. In centers across the country, generations of girls have learned their strengths, explored their worlds, prepared for productive, interesting lives, and offered each other the support necessary in dealing with the challenges of growing up. Grounded in research and tested in the field, Girls Inc. programs address the whole girl. They build her athletic skills and competitive spirit, nurture her ability and interest in science, math and technology, equip her...

This morning I watched on as the California Assembly passed a resolution honoring the 33rd anniversary of Title IX. As a big supporter of women in sports and a believer in the goals of this landmark measure, I have to admit my disgust at how Title IX has been used to eliminate men’s sports programs at small colleges across the country. And even more upsetting is how; here in California, my favorite sport of football has often been the target of choice. Read More... Craig DeLuz Visit The Home of Uncommon Sense... www.craigdeluz.com

Aug. 12, 2005 — A federal jury has ordered a Kansas school district to pay $250,000 to a former student tormented by school bullies. "That's five years of my life that I had to live — just depressed, angry, scared," said the boy, Dylan Theno, 18, of Tonganoxie, Kan. "I can never get that back." Theno won the award Thursday after his family sued the Tonganoxie School District, claiming Theno had suffered years of bullying, and that school officials didn't attempt to stop the harassment.

Put this week's celebration of Title IX — the federal law intended to prevent discrimination based on sex on college campuses — in the "it's my party and I'll cry if I want to" category. Instead of simply acknowledging the 33rd anniversary of the creation of the law, prominent Democrats used the occasion to bellyache about new regulations that clarify how schools and universities can comply with Title IX. Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, Sen. Ted Kennedy, and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi were among the liberal worthies at a press conference on how the Bush administration is denying athletic opportunities...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court refused to consider reinstating a lawsuit that accuses federal officials of discriminating against male athletes in enforcing equal opportunities for women. Justices, without comment, rejected an appeal Monday from the National Wrestling Coaches Association and other groups that have been fighting federal policies under the anti-discrimination law known as Title IX. At issue for the court was whether the challengers showed that the law directly caused a reduction in men's sports and whether they should be allowed to sue federal officials. The Supreme Court has indicated a special interest recently in Title IX, the 1972...