Leo Kocher's Perspective, Volume I
NCAA/USOC Task Force to Discuss Preserving Olympic Sport Teams in College
The NCAA has agreed to join with the USOC in a task force which will address the increasing number of dropped sports teams in the NCAA. Members of the task force include USA Wrestling’s Executive Director Rich Bender. Unfortunately NCAA Executive Director, Myles Brand, would only allow the NCAA’s participation on the task force under the condition that discussion of Title IX in the meetings be prohibited.
The good news here is wrestling has a knowledgeable and strong advocate like Rich on the task force. The bad news is that when the main cause for the elimination of programs Title IX gender quotas cannot be addressed it can end up being an exercise like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Something positive can still come out of this but don’t hold your breath.
Sad Anniversary
It was one year ago that the Bush Administration - caving into the threats of the National Women’s Law Center and other quota advocacy groups - refused to consider any of the Title IX reform recommendations overwhelmingly passed by its own Commission on Opportunity in Athletics. This amazing display of political timidity has resulted in 120 more NCAA men’s programs dropped in the last year alone.
NCAA Sponsored Group Proposes Eliminating 2 High School Weight Classes
The National Federation of State High School Associations is bringing to a vote a recommendation to move the number of weight classes from the current 14 down to 12.
The NFSHSA is funded by the NCAA which provided office space to the NFSHSA when the NCAA headquarters were in the Kansas City area and moved with the NCAA to Indianapolis a few years ago.
I hope the state wrestling communities fight this. I don’t believe getting rid of weight classes is a solution to some schools having trouble filling all of them. Given the NCAA’s endorsement of the gender quotas that lead to the elimination male athletes in its colleges, it doesn’t give you a lot of confidence that the reduction in weight classes is being suggested with the high school wrestlers’ welfare in mind. Make no mistake there is increasing gender quota pressure in high school athletics.
If a school cannot fill all the weight classes why not drop the administrators and coach who will not create a program about which the kids can be enthused? Now there is a solution.
Legal Actions
I have been asked to provide a summation of the litigation efforts directed at helping our campaign to reform Title IX. The following was composed by Eric Pearson - Executive Director of the College Sports Council (CSC members include the NWCA) with help from Larry Joseph - our selfless superstar attorney who specializes in regulatory law in DC.
The College Sports Council and the NWCA currently have three lawsuits in Federal Courts.
They are:
NWCA v. US Department of Education, filed January 2002.
CSC v. US Department of Education, filed December 2003.
CSC v. US General Accounting Office (GAO), filed September 2003.
Both the NWCA v. Dept. of Ed. and CSC v. Dept. of Ed. are Title IX cases that directly challenge the legality of three part test as the established method of regulating the law. CSC v. GAO challenges the validity of reports published by the GAO regarding numbers of athletic teams sponsored by colleges in the United States.
The courts have yet to rule on the merits of any of these cases. The only actions taken so far by the court involve the case, NWCA v. Dept. of Ed. and judges have addressed only the question of whether the NWCA and CSC have the right to sue the Department of Education. Two courts have issued procedural rulings unfavorable to the NWCA but the coaches have filed for an appeal to the 'en banc' panel of judges. If the 'en banc' request is denied then the coaches will petition the US Supreme Court. At issue is whether the coaches simply have the right to proceed with their case against the Dept. of Ed. under the complaint they filed in January 2002.
(THE CSC V. DEPT. OF ED. SUIT CURES THE PROCEDURAL DEFECTS FOUND BY THE PRIOR TWO COURTS, THEREBY ENSURING THAT THE CSC WILL HAVE ITS DAY IN COURT AGAINST THE THREE-PART TEST IN THE COMING YEAR.)
The CSC views its legal initiatives as a key component in its campaign for Title IX regulatory reform. A lawsuit can serve as a vehicle for publicity as well as an effective tool to apply political leverage. Winning in court is just one possible benefit from filing a lawsuit.
One example of a lawsuit that accomplished its goal without actually achieving victory in court is the case, Women's Equity Action League (WEAL) v. CALIFANO (Secretary of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.) This case was filed in 1974 against the agency that was responsible for regulating Title IX compliance, and eventually dismissed by the court in 1990. During this 16 year time period this coalition of women's groups managed to pressure the federal regulatory agency to comply with its demands in handling Title IX complaints, A PROCESS THAT RESULTED IN THE DEPARTMENT ISSUING THE THREE-PART TEST IN 1979. Even though the WEAL case was eventually dismissed, it proved to be an extremely effective tool for the plaintiffs to achieve their objectives.
Since it was filed, the NWCA v. US Dept. of Ed. lawsuit has been very successful in drawing the attention of both the media and the Bush administration to the problems with the three part test. The CSC sees its lawsuits as invaluable tools to use in its overall strategy to change public perception of Title IX. The CSC supports Title IX as it was originally written by Congress in 1972. The CSC aims to achieve regulatory reform of Title IX, so that the law can protect women without harming men.
