Essay by Gary R. Roberts
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits gender discrimination by educational institutions receiving federal funds and has become the focal point for a bitter three-cornered debate among supporters of women's sports, men's nonrevenue sports, and the high profile men's sports of football and, to a lesser extent, basketball. This Essay considers the high profile and hotly contested issues related to the role and effect of Title IX and, more broadly, how best to provide gender equity in intercollegiate sports.
The Essay makes several recommendations, which, if adopted in toto, would fairly balance the competing interests of every relevant constituency while also generally reforming college athletics in more fundamental ways. The Essay concludes that the Department of Education should urge negotiations between leaders of the NCAA, itself, the Justice Department, and Congress, all in consultation with leaders of the various constituent groups, to commit to making the recommended and necessary changes to Title IX regulations, to NCAA rules, and to the antitrust laws, with each change being contingent on the others.
About the Author
Gary R. Roberts. Deputy Dean, Sumter Davis Marks Professor of Law, and Director of the Sports Law Program, Tulane Law School, New Orleans, Louisiana. B.A. 1970, Bradley University; J.D. 1975, Stanford University.
Citation
77 Tul. L. Rev. 997 (2003)