SDSU Athletics Is Accused of Discrimination : Title IX: U.S. Department of Education investigating charges that women do not receive equitable treatment.

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating a complaint against San Diego State University that alleges sex discrimination in the athletic department, Athletic Director Fred Miller said Thursday.

Miller said the school was asked last week by federal officials to provide financial and other information in connection with the investigation.

Miller said he was confident the department would be found to be in compliance with federal regulations but added that the probe concerned him. “It’s like the IRS; they say they’re here to help you, but you get nervous,” he said by phone from Florida, where he is vacationing.

Miller said the complaint alleges that the department is violating federal Title IX regulations, which prohibit sex discrimination in programs at educational institutions that receive federal funds.

Several others familiar with the complaint, all of whom requested that their names not be used, said the alleged violations include disparities in practice facilities, locker rooms, equipment, transportation, coaching contracts and the general treatment of female athletes and their coaches.

The investigation is being conducted by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, out of its regional office in San Francisco. John Palomino, regional director, confirmed that a complaint was filed about two months ago but said federal rules prevented him from providing details until the investigation was complete. He said it likely will be several months before a report is issued.

Miller has said several times in interviews during his four-year tenure that he was concerned about the department meeting Title IX requirements. But he said the complaint was not necessary and the investigation could delay efforts to improve conditions by taking up staff time that might be better spent directly working to correct the situation.

Those familiar with the complaint said it was triggered last fall by a dispute between two women’s teams, volleyball and basketball, over practice time in Peterson Gymnasium, both teams’ home for competition.

The volleyball team, which had been using the gym for daily two-hour afternoon practices since late August, was told to leave when the basketball team began practices on Oct. 15, the sources said. The volleyball team was forced to split practice time between the Women’s Gym on campus and an off-campus recreational facility.

At the time, the volleyball team was in the final six weeks of its season and contending for an NCAA playoff spot; sources said the team was upset at having to move off its home floor at such a crucial time. The team ended up losing to eventual champion Cal State Long Beach in the first-round of the NCAA tournament.

“If this was a men’s sport, do you think they would have kicked them off their home floor in the middle of the season for a sport (women’s basketball) that wasn’t even in season?” one source said. “They would have found a way to get them the gym.”

In 1988, Peterson Gym was divided by a net, and the women’s basketball and volleyball teams shared it for two hours before men’s basketball practice began. But this season, Beth Burns, the new women’s basketball coach, was promised use of the entire floor, sources said.

But while the dispute over practice time might have triggered the complaint, other concerns are long-standing, the sources said.

“They knew this was coming,” said one. “They brought it on themselves.”

Miller said the department has been working to meet the needs of female athletes and their coaches despite tight times financially, and limited and antiquated facilities. As an example of the improvement made in women’s sports, Miller cited the addition of soccer last fall. But the program offers no scholarships and shares its coach, Chuck Clegg, with the men’s program.

Miller said that about 25% of the school’s intercollegiate athletes are women and that the eight women’s programs receive a comparable share of the department’s $4.8-million budget.

Department budget problems have been exacerbated by an accumulated deficit of $518,000, and facility shortcomings compounded by the fact that intercollegiate athletics must share Peterson Gym with the physical education department and other campus events.

“We knew when we arrived here four years ago that the infrastructure was not there,” Miller said. “In order to have a financially successful athletic program, we had to get football and (men’s) basketball in shape. Everything else will follow in an orderly fashion.”

Miller said a new Peterson Gym locker room for women is nearing completion and that a new locker room for female coaches is among improvements planned for the physical education building adjacent to Peterson Gym. The athletic department is in the process of taking over space vacated when the physical education department moved to recently renovated space in the Women’s Gym.

Miller said many facility problems would be solved when a planned $34-million arena and recreational sports facility is completed.

Construction on the complex is scheduled to begin in the fall, and competition is expected for the 1992-93 school year. But the project could be delayed by a petition filed in San Diego Superior Court in October by a neighborhood association concerned about traffic and parking problems events at the arena might cause.

Those who support the complaint say they hope it will force SDSU to address Title IX deficiencies.

“Finances, finances, it’s always finances, but finances never seem to affect the men’s sports,” one source said. “If nothing else, maybe this audit will mean that the time frame for these changes will be mandated.”