Louisville men may lose to Title IX cuts

The Louisville Cardinal LOUISVILLE, Ky. (U-WIRE) -- The future of the men's track and men's swimming programs hang in limbo as the University of Louisville attempts to achieve proportionality as required under Title IX of the Civil Rights Act. A regulation of Title IX requires that the ratio of men participants and women participants in athletics must be proportionate to the student enrollment at a university. According to the Louisville athletic department, the university currently sponsors 10 men's and nine women's sports. Of the 412 student-athletes participating in 1996-97, 265 (64 percent) were men and 147 (36 percent) were women. Undergraduate enrollment at Louisville is 52 percent women, 48 percent men, making the ratio of women to men athletes disproportionate in comparison to enrollment. In order to comply with proportionality, there must be an adjustment made so the number of female to male athletes reflects the student population. Louisville brought a national consultant, Lamar Daniel, to campus last April to evaluate the situation. Daniel reviewed the university's figures and statistics, as well as information about high school sports in the area. In September, Daniel released a plan outlining how the university could achieve proportionality, at which time Louisville President John Shumaker appointed a Gender Equity Committee, headed by Louisville Trustee Olga Peers, to review the draft. Included in the five-year plan is a suggestion to eliminate the men's swimming,men's cross country and men's indoor and outdoor track programs while adding women's fast-pitch softball and women's golf. The proposal also included dropping women's swimming, but according to Associate Athletic Director Kevin Miller, the committee would prefer not to drop any women's sports at this time. Athletics Director Tom Jurich said he understands the concern surrounding the possibility of cutting programs. "Obviously, when you talk about dropping sports, it's very difficult," he said. "When you deal in things like this, it can be very emotional. But the school has got to make some very tough decisions so that they can move forward also." The committee is scheduled to have a plan ready for submission to the Athletic Board by April.