Q&A; with executive director of the Women's Law Project Carol Tracy

Carol Tracy is the executive director of the Women's Law Project of Philadelphia. A former Penn undergraduate and director of the Women's Center, Tracy recently negotiated a settlement in the Title IX case with the University. The result is greater equity in men's and women's athletics in areas such as coaching salaries and facilities. DP: How did you become involved in the Penn Title IX case? Tracy: A student called us. We have a telephone counseling service at the Women's Law Project where we provide information on a whole range of legal issues, and we got a call about discrimination in athletics at Penn. Occasionally calls come in through the telephone counseling service that the lawyers on the staff want to be involved in. I asked a counselor to get more information and to set up a meeting with the student, Lanie Moore. She and Cherie Gerstadt came down to see our managing attorney and I. We then set up a second meeting with them and five softball players came. That's really how we got involved in it. DP: What made you decide to take this case? Tracy: Well, Title IX is really an interesting case. There is increasing amounts of law that are developing around it. But it has the potential to impact a lot of people, in this case, all the women athletes of Penn. If we had litigated it there are numerous issues related to Title IX that haven't been litigated yet. DP: When you first took on the case what was your tentative plan of action? Tracy: Well, we needed to find more information. The coincidence that happened is a group of coaches approached us as well and they had similar interests and issues. We brought them and the students together to see if they could work as a group, which actually made this unique as a Title IX case. So we met with the coaches and then we went on an information-gathering process where we needed to find out more of what the problems were. Before long we realized there were some violations of Title IX at Penn and we sent a letter to [former University president] Clare Fagin and began meetings with the University. They weren't moving along as quickly as we would like and then there was a change in the administration and we concluded we could not wait for them all to get up to speed. So we filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights for Education that enforces Title IX. DP: What kind of impact, if any at all, do you think this Title IX settlement will have on other Title IX cases? Tracy: Well, I have talked to two national publications in the last several days who follow Title IX who realize that there is a uniqueness in this settlement that they would like to publicize and would become the model for other institutions, and that's part of what we hoped. DP: Do you think more universities might go this route to avoid the cost of litigation? Tracy: I hope so. I don't know if they will because it is a sensible way to do it. It's problem-solving. Title IX is this: women have the right to have equal opportunity in athletics. It's not discretionary on the part of the university. If universities want to continue to get federal funding they simply have to come into compliance. DP: Did it bother you that the University has not admitted that they have done anything wrong? Tracy: No. That is not unusual in the settlement of cases. We got what we wanted. I think the University cooperated fully. They understood the needs and responded appropriately. I'm not bothered by how they discuss their role. DP: Were you ever a student-athlete? Tracy: No. The irony about this is that in all my years at Penn as an undergraduate until I got involved in this Title IX case, I went to one athletic game and it was to see Steve Bilsky play basketball. I was on a date and I was not happy about where we were going. My date wanted to see Bilsky play. So I imagine he was a good player. I have no recollection. DP: What made you decide to go in to this kind of law, advocacy of women's rights? Tracy: I don't know. I think I was born a feminist. Today, I was talking to one of our student counselors about applying to law school and I told her that I realized halfway through law school that there were 20 jobs at law firms that do women's rights. I thought how am I ever going to get one of them, and lo and behold I wound up getting one of the best ones. I care passionately about women's rights, and I think I'm effective in advocating that agenda.

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