Giving Women a Sporting Chance : Cal State plan could be a template for nation

The continuing disparity between the percentage of women enrolled at universities and the dollars allocated for their sports programs is a national scandal. Too many athletic departments just don’t get it.

Funds still are weighted heavily on the side of the big-time men’s sports--despite the mandate of the federal government under Title IX, and despite successful litigation by women’s groups.

The California State University system has seen the handwriting on the wall and has put California in the vanguard of reform by setting a timetable. As part of a settlement of a suit filed by the California chapter of the National Organization for Women, Cal State schools will bring opportunities and funding for women in line with men’s sports by the 1998-99 academic year.

This welcome commitment will not be painless, however. A precedent-making settlement of a bias lawsuit last year at Cal State Fullerton suggests why: That school agreed to retain women’s volleyball and added women’s soccer, but it eliminated men’s gymnastics and virtually sealed the fate of the suspended football program. These are brutal economic times, and gender equity will require such tough choices.

Football, the 800-pound gorilla in university financing, has caused many universities to drag their feet on gender-equity in sports. College presidents and athletic directors are all too mindful of the status and alumni satisfaction to be reaped on Saturday afternoons, though when all costs are taken into account, even Sports Illustrated says football loses money at the vast majority of NCAA colleges. Big-time programs at Fresno State, San Diego State and San Jose State clearly must tighten their belts. And nationally, gender equity will be very tough to achieve without scaled-back football scholarship and recruitment programs.

Obviously, many colleges are going to have to make some politically difficult decisions. Schools can keep football as a high, costly priority, but it may mean eliminating or downsizing some other men’s programs in order to increase support of women’s squads.

Some of the alums around the nation who write the checks and hold high expectations will howl, of course. But if a few of them were blessed with daughters or granddaughters gifted (or even just interested) in soccer, volleyball or basketball, they might see things differently. Gender fairness in sports is really not that difficult to comprehend.

Equity in sports program funding and opportunities is the law of the land. The University of California system and others across the nation that logically must follow CSU’s example need to get in step with the times. CSU is to be commended for trying to respond to lawsuit pressure with a serious plan and real determination.