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Adrian College in Michigan must make broad improvements to its women’s athletics programs – including the addition of at least one sports team and a locker room in its multipurpose stadium – under a settlement between the college and the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights. The Resolution Agreement, which was first reported in the Title IX Blog, would bring the college into compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which Adrian was accused of violating in two separate complaints filed with OCR in 2007.
It’s not unusual for institutions found in violation of the federal legislation prohibiting sexual discrimination to have to make changes in multiple areas, nor are Adrian’s inequities unique.But, as Title IX blogger and Western New England University associate law professor Erin Buzuvis pointed out in an e-mail to Inside Higher Ed, it is “somewhat unusual” that Adrian must remedy inequities in nearly every program area covered under Title IX. By June 1, 2013, the college must survey and evaluate its female students’ athletic interests and abilities, and address several shortages and inequities in women’s equipment and supplies; scheduling of games and practice times; locker rooms, practice times and competitive schedules; coaching; medical and training facilities; publicity and recruitment.
Among the specific requirements, the college must: boost the number of events in which women’s teams compete to equal that of men’s teams; provide each team with complete practice and game uniforms, including warm-ups and rain gear at levels equivalent to men’s teams; provide recruitment funds to teams in proportion to that gender’s participation rate, or at higher levels for women’s teams, because females are underrepresented in Adrian’s athletics programs; and assign the same number of qualified medical and training personnel to teams of each sex based on the needs of the sport.
