Not a Level Playing Field : Cal State system must end the funding inequity suffered by women athletes

What will it take to put women’s sports on equal footing with men’s in the California State University system? More than a state law, apparently, because equal opportunity for women in athletics on Cal State campuses has been required since 1977. And more than a federal law such as Title IX, which for more than two decades has demanded that women be equal to men in funding for education, including sports programs.

The sad truth is that, despite these laws, there have been only modest gains for women in college sports at Cal State campuses in recent years: Spending on men’s programs still far outstrips that for women.

Obviously, more than simple patience is required as a remedy. In the absence of sufficient progress, the California chapter of the National Organization for Women is doing the right thing in taking the matter to court. It sued the state university system last week, seeking an injunction that would require it to “immediately adopt a timetable for making substantial progress toward elimination of disparity between men’s and women’s athletic programs. . . . “

That hardly seems an unreasonable demand. The basic issue involved in the NOW lawsuit has already been litigated in a sex bias case involving Cal State Fullerton’s sports programs. Last May, an out-of-court settlement was reached in which Cal State Fullerton agreed to beef up certain women’s sports programs immediately and establish equity in spending on men’s and women’s sports within 10 years.

Fullerton does not currently have a football program. But even campuses that do have such male-exclusive sports programs will have to deal with the reality that the law requires the development of major sports programs for women too.

Given the record of most of the rest of the Cal State campuses, a resolution similar to Fullerton’s seems in order for the system as a whole. It would make clear that all California State University campuses will be expected to expedite plans to achieve equity in funding for sports programs.