It is ironic that four historically Black colleges and universitiesare among the twenty-five institutions named in a Title IX complaintfiled by the National Women’s Law Center. Ironic, because the primemission of HBCUs is to provide educational opportunities to those whomay not otherwise get the chance to attend college. The complaint wasfiled in June just weeks before the celebration of Title IX’stwenty-fifth anniversary.
South Carolina State University, Coppin State College,Bethune-Cookman College, and Hampton University — all members of theMid-Eastern Athletic Conference — were named in the complaint asviolators of the law. The complaint is based on data provided by theschools under the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act.
Specifically, the Law Center says schools named in the complaintshort-change female athletes when it comes to awarding scholarshipmoney. The organization contends that nationwide, women athletes getjust a little over a third of all available scholarship dollars. Putanother way, female athletes average $1,000 less per year inscholarship awards than male athletes.
That disparity, Law Center officials say, must change.
“This issue is not about schools having to add more women’ssports,” says Debbie Brake, senior counsel for the Law Center. “It’sabout closing the gap between male and female athletes in thescholarship dollars they receive. What we’re talking about is how youdivide the pie [for scholarships] that’s already in existence.”
Brake doesn’t view the complaint as an edict for schools to do theimpossible. What it comes down to, she says, is at a minimum, thepercentage of scholarship money for women athletes should be on parwith the percentage of women athletes in an institution’s sportsprogram. In other words, if 35 percent of an institution’s athletes arewomen, then that institution should have at least 35 percent of itsathletic scholarship money earmarked for women.
“The money aspect is an important foot in the door,” Brakecontinues. “For so many kids, having a scholarship is the only way theywill ever pay for a college education.”
