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Sunday, October 06, 2002

Some key moments in the 30-year history of Title IX:

June 23 1972 - Title IX of the Education Amendments bans sex discrimination in schools. It states: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."

1974 - The U.S. Senate passes, but the House fails to pass, an amendment that would exclude revenue-producing sports from Title IX.

1975 - Original date schools were given to comply.

1978 - Health, Education and Welfare Department provides final guidelines for schools.

1979 - The Northwest Women's Law Center is successful in a lawsuit against Washington State University, forcing the school to comply with Title IX.

1984 - In Grove City College vs. Bell, the Supreme Court rules that only the programs that receive federal funding and not the entire college fall under Title IX.

1988 - Civil Rights Restoration Act overturns the Grove City decision, saying Title IX applies to all operations of a college receiving federal funds.

1997 - Supreme Court upholds a lower court ruling that found Brown University in violation of Title IX. The suit that forced the ruling, Cohen vs. Brown University, came when Brown dropped women's gymnastics.

1997 - Stephen Neal, the 1996 NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion from Cal State-Bakersfield, sues the university for trying to eliminate wrestling to comply with Title IX. A federal judge blocks the school from disbanding wrestling; the case is pending.

1998 - U.S. District Court Judge Ernest Torres approves Brown University's plan for complying with Title IX, the final issue in the lawsuit that has become the standard for compliance. The university agrees to keep the percentage of female athletes within 3.5 percent of Brown's female student total.

2001 -- As a result of Title IX, enrollment of women in athletics programs and professional schools has increased dramatically. For example, before Title IX, 7.4 percent of high school athletes in the U.S. were female. In 2001, the number rose to 41.5 percent.

Jan. 16, 2002 - A federal lawsuit brought by the National Wrestling Coaches Association seeks to protect sports from being eliminated from schools for the purpose of complying with Title IX.

Aug. 27-28, 2002 - The first of four public forums on Title IX is held in Atlanta. On the 30th anniversary of Title IX, the Secretary of Education requested the forums and asks the Women's Sports Foundation to report back its findings by January 2003.

Source: Women's Sports Foundation and other sources