COLUMN: Title IX rules have to adapt to the times

From Andrew Exum's, "Perilous Orthodoxy," Fall '99 From Andrew Exum's, "Perilous Orthodoxy," Fall '99Last Thursday, this newspaper reported that the University's athletic department spends more money on its male athletes than it does on its female athletes. It shouldn't. In fact, 26 years after the passage of Title IX, we need to re-evaluate its goals and confront what has become an outdated and problematic piece of law. True, Penn spends $3.6 million on men's athletics, as compared to only $1.8 million on women's athletics. But men's athletics also bring in $3.2 million in revenues, effectively paying for all but $400,000 of their expenses. Women's athletics only bring in $372,000, meaning that the University shoulders over $1.4 million in costs. We should never finance athletic programs strictly based on their ability to pay for themselves. But in financial terms, the commitment Penn brings to the table on behalf of women's athletics is -- if anything -- greater than its commitment to men's athletics. By the numbers, Penn devotes over three times the money to women's athletics as it does to men's sports. Furthermore, non-revenue producing men's sports -- like wrestling or men's soccer -- have been cut or threatened at many universities and colleges in recent years in the name of Title IX. It's easy to see why -- cut the men's soccer team and you'll find that the gap between how much you spend on men and women just shrank. Opportunities for women weren't necessarily created in the process but opportunities for equally deserving men were certainly taken away. That was never Title IX's intent. The law was supposed to increase opportunities for women, not decrease opportunities for men. Not to mention that in some cases, the cost of providing men with athletic opportunities is far greater than the cost of providing women with equal opportunities. Football costs more than other sports on a per-player basis because of equipment, coaching staffs and facilities. There is, of course, no female equivalent. Does that mean Penn should cut its football program? Of course not. As long as there is an interest, we owe it to the athletes to provide the opportunity to play. That's what Title IX was all about in the first place. I myself relished the opportunity to play lightweight football here at Penn and it would be a shame if the program were scratched simply to even the ledgers. Thankfully, our athletic department has maintained a solid commitment to male, non-revenue sports like wrestling, lightweight football and men's squash even as athletic programs across the country cut such programs to make room for Title IX. But the pressure brought to bear on our athletic department and others across the country will continue to have the weight of the law behind it as long as Title IX exists. For this reason, we need to work to find a successor to Title IX, one which will guarantee equal opportunities for female athletes while ensuring opportunities for male athletes as well. Title IX is held in high regard in our society, mainly due to what it has accomplished over the past 26 years. But let's not look back another 26 years from now and find ourselves counting the ways in which Title IX has hurt college athletics. It's time to sacrifice the sacred cow. Title IX, while great once, has grown to hinder and hamper collegiate athletic programs. This isn't an easy thing for a lot of people to do, myself included. I'm a huge women's athletics fan. Thanks to my mom, a high school basketball coach, I've probably seen more women's athletic events than men's contests, and enjoyed almost every one. More importantly, I've also witnessed the thousands of opportunities Title IX has given to deserving young girls. Want to know why women's soccer is suddenly so popular? Thank Title IX. Want to know how the WNBA came to flourish? Thank Title IX. The positive effects of Title IX are undeniable. According to one study, 55 percent of American girls raised after the passage of Title IX participated in competitive athletics in high school. That's astonishing in comparison to the paltry 36 percent of American girls who participated in high school athletics before Title IX. But it's time nonetheless to say goodbye to an old friend that has both outgrown its use and begun to negatively impact athletics as a whole. Instead of defending what is obviously a flawed amendment, let's band together to create a new law that both ensures equal opportunities for women in sport and protects opportunities for men as well.