Gov't tells colleges to reveal sports budgets

Starting next summer, the amount of money that universities spend on their intercollegiate sports programs will be public knowledge. To comply with new regulations released by the U.S. Department of Education last week, universities will be required to publish budget reports detailing participation rates, financial support and other information about their men's and women's athletic programs. The new federal rules are the result of a law passed by Congress last year to increase public knowledge about gender equity in intercollegiate sports. The reports mandated by the new regulations must be made public by Oct. 1, 1996, and by October 15 in succeeding years. But the regulations do not specify how the reports will be made available. Although the Penn Athletic Department is aware of the new annual report requirement, Director of Administrative Affairs Edwin Ledwell said it has not yet received any specific information on how reports will be compiled from the Department of Education. "We will be providing the information as required by the new federal rules, but as of yet we do not have any directive," Ledwell said. Earlier this year Penn reached a settlement with the Women's Law Project of Philadelphia on the issue of gender equity in campus athletics. The Women's Law Project filed a complaint last year on behalf of women athletes and women's team coaches at Penn, stating that the University was not providing equal opportunity for women athletes in accordance with Title IX of the Education Amendments to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title IX requires universities that receive any kind of federal funding to have equal facilities and resources for all of their athletes. Carol Tracy, executive director of the Women's Law Project, said she supports the new federal rules because she believes the public is entitled to know more about collegiate athletic spending than it currently does. "The reporting of this information will be very important in disproving the widespread perception that Title IX is driving men out of athletics and that women are getting a disproportionate share of the pie," Tracy said. "This [rule] will show that the women are still getting crumbs." Athletics are important to women and create opportunities for them, Tracy added. "Even corporate America recognizes that it's an opportunity for poor or low-income women to go to college that otherwise may not exist," she said. The new reports are also designed to provide information that public advocacy groups like the Women's Law Project can use when taking legal action against a university suspected of violating Title IX. "One of the problems [with this litigation] is getting sufficient data to decide whether there is a basis for litigation," said Arthur Bryant of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice. The lawyers group has filed several lawsuits similar to the Title IX complaint filed against the University by the Women's Law Project. "This legislation and these regulations will certainly make the task easier," Bryant added.