UC Davis still on the hook for apparent Title IX violations

SAN FRANCISCO
February 8, 2010 12:37pm

Starting a women’s golf team doesn’t make up for throwing women off the varsity wrestling team, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals says in a ruling reinstating a lawsuit against the University of California, Davis.

The ruling sends back to the district court a lawsuit filed by three female former members of the Davis wrestling program, which had long had women members.

Arezou Mansourian, Lauren Mancuso, and Christine Wing-Si Ng were on the varsity wrestling team along with men as undergraduates and enjoyed the benefits associated with varsity status such as training, coaching, and laundry services; academic tutoring; insurance; and access to varsity facilities and equipment.

During the 2000-2001 academic year, Davis eliminated all women from the wrestling team. After the students protested to UCD administrators and filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights, UC Davis agreed to permit women again to participate in varsity wrestling – but conditioned on their ability to beat male wrestlers in their weight class, using men’s collegiate wrestling rules.

As a result of the new requirement that they compete against men under men’s rules, the female students were unable to participate on the wrestling team and lost the benefits associated with varsity status, including scholarships and academic credit, the court notes.

The students then sued on behalf of all current and future female UCD students denied equal athletic participation opportunities. The plaintiffs sought damages and injunctive relief under Title IX. As applied to intercollegiate athletics, the U.S. Department of Education’s Title IX regulations require those schools getting federal funds to “provide equal athletic opportunity for members of both sexes.”

“We recognize that budgetary constraints often prevent universities from creating new teams and adding varsity slots. But ‘Title IX does not require that a school pour ever increasing sums into its athletic establishment,’” the ruling Monday says. “Universities may achieve compliance by reducing men’s athletic slots until participation rates become substantially proportionate to the undergraduate population.

“They may not … maintain varsity teams for male students while denying female students comparable ‘opportunities to enjoy the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, and the many tangible benefits that flow from just being given a chance to participate in intercollegiate athletics.’”

The university responded Monday evening.

"Because this was a summary judgment, the appeals court assessed only whether there was a triable issue of fact based on an assessment of the facts viewed most favorably to the plaintiffs (as the non-moving party)," says a written statement from Julia Ann Easley, senior public information representative at UC Davis.

"In district court, the issue will be tried on its merits. We’re confident that when the facts are fleshed out, they will show UC Davis is in compliance with Title IX and that there has been no discrimination," it says.

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