Sports stats



San Diego Spirit's Foudy Named to Title IX Panel

July 3, 2002 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
San Diego Spirit News Release


SAN DIEGO - San Diego captain Julie Foudy, one of the leading women's sports proponents of her generation, has been named by U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige to a blue-ribbon panel of sports professionals and educators who will examine ways of strengthening enforcement and expanding opportunities to ensure fairness for all college athletes. The appointment of Foudy, and 14 others, comes on the heels of the 30-year anniversary of Title IX, the anti-discrimination law that has enabled generations of girls and women to achieve opportunity and success in sports.

The new Commission on Opportunity in Athletics will include 15 men and women and will be co-chaired by former WNBA star Cynthia Cooper and Ted Leland, director of athletics at Stanford University. The members of the Commission will hold public hearings and speak with parents, athletes, coaches, college officials, educators and other experts, as well as state, local and national leaders, to gather information and prepare recommendations that will be submitted to Paige by January 31, 2003.

The goals of the commission are to collect information, analyze issues, and obtain broad public input directed at improving the application of current Federal standards for measuring equal opportunity for men and women and boys and girls to participate in athletics under Title IX. The Commission will recommend to the Secretary, in a written report, whether those standards should be revised, and if so, how the standards should be revised. The Commission will also recommend other steps that might be taken to improve the effectiveness of Title IX and to maintain and build upon the extraordinary progress that has resulted from its passage 30 years ago.

"Without a doubt, Title IX has opened the doors of opportunity for generations of women and girls to compete, to achieve, and to pursue their American dreams," Paige said. "This Administration is committed to building on those successes. I am confident that, with the help of this Commission, we will learn how we can do a better job of enforcing a law that represents hope to so many Americans."

"I am honored to be selected to serve the government on this important issue of gender equity in sport," said Foudy. "Title IX has been a pioneering law that has helped create more opportunities for girls and women to enjoy the benefits of sport. Yet schools are still falling far short of providing equal opportunities for our daughters in sport. Female athletes are receiving 1.1 million fewer opportunities to participate at the high school level than male athletes and 30% fewer opportunities and $133 million less in athletic scholarship assistance at the college level. I will urge the Commission to examine ways in which schools and colleges can meet their legal obligations. So much good has happened because of Title IX, but we are not there yet. It is a good law that needs better enforcement rather than any weakening of our government's commitment to ensuring gender equality."

President Richard Nixon signed into law Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 to the 1964 Civil Rights Act that says: "No person in the United States shall on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

Title IX prohibits all public and private colleges and universities that receive federal funding from discriminating on the basis of sex. Since most colleges and universities receive federal funds, most commonly through financial aid to students, nearly all must comply with Title IX.

In the decades since Title IX became the law, the number of women graduating college and entering the professions has soared. So has the number of women's sports teams at our nation's colleges and universities. According to the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, colleges added nearly 3,800 more women's teams since Title IX became law.

"President Bush recognizes that while great strides have been made in the fight for equality, we still have much more work to do in this area," said Paige. "And as the U.S. Secretary of Education, I am proud to be a part of implementing the President's vision of a nation where civil rights laws are enforced fairly and vigorously. When we say we want no child left behind, we mean it. Our goal is to bring out the best efforts of all our young people in our nation's schools - from kindergarten through college."

The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team has grown up in a golden era for title IX and the success of the 1999 Women's World Cup tournament can be considered a by-product of the law.

"Without question, professional leagues like our WUSA have also benefited from the law passed 30 years ago," added Foudy. "When I see all the young girls and boys playing soccer all over the country, and in the stands at our games, I can see on a daily basis the wonderful impact that Title IX has made on all our lives."

In addition to Foudy, Cooper and Leland, the Commission includes:

· Percy Bates, Professor of Education at the University of Michigan and representative to the Big 10 Conference and the NCAA for the past 12 years.

· Bob Bowlsby, Director of Men's Athletics at the University of Iowa.

· Gene DeFillipo, Athletic Director at Boston College.

· Donna De Varona, Chairman of the United States Olympic Committee Government Relations Committee, co-founder of the Women's Sports Foundation and two-time Olympic gold medal winner in swimming.

· Tom Griffith, Assistant Secretary and General Counsel at Brigham Young University.

· Cary Groth, Athletic Director at Northern Illinois University.

· Lisa Graham Keegan, CEO of the Education Leadership Council and formerly Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction.

· Muffet McGraw, head women's basketball coach at the University of Notre Dame.

· Mike Slive, Commissioner of Conference USA.

· Rita Simon, Professor at American University's School of Public Affairs and Washington College of Law.

· Graham Spanier, President of Pennsylvania State University.

· Deborah A. Yow, Director of Athletics at the University of Maryland.



Women's United Soccer Association Stories from July 3, 2002


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central