U.S. Civil Rights Commission Recommends Weakening Title IX
(Washington, DC) The U.S. Civil Rights Commission has issued a report on Title IX in schools. The following is a statement by Marcia D. Greenberger, Co-President of the National WomenÂ’s Law Center (NWLC):
On the eve of the Final Four, when the country is captivated by the great accomplishments of our male and female athletes, the U.S. Civil Rights Commission has issued a disappointing report rehashing the same old stereotypes that women are not as interested in playing sports as men. The Commission encourages schools to rely on a 2005 Department of Education policy that created a major loophole through which schools can evade their Title IX obligations. The policy allows schools to rely solely on responses, and even nonresponses, to email surveys to justify limiting female students’ opportunities to play sports. The premise of the Commission’s recommendations—that women, but not men, must prove that they are interested in playing sports—has been uniformly condemned by the courts, the NCAA and colleges and universities around the country. Once again, the Commission is out of bounds. ### Contact: Maria Patrick or Andrea Maruniak, 202-588-5180
