How Title IX affects USU sports

LOGAN — Fifty years ago, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was signed into law by President Richard Nixon. Birch Bayh, a senator from Indiana, penned the 37 words that changed athletics in the United States forever.

“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 education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance,” section A of the amendment reads.

Title IX is applied to athletic participation, scholarships and other benefits. The requirements guide institutions to equitable and proportional treatment of athletes, regardless of gender. Like most other collegiate institutions, Utah State receives federal funding and is thus responsible to adhere to Title IX.

“Everything we do in athletics, we are mindful of the Title IX implications,” said John Hartwell, USU’s Director of Athletics.

For Hartwell and his staff, that means investing proportionally in all athletics programs at Utah State. The Aggies have made these improvements across campus. For example, they have invested in new coaching hires, recruiting and nutrition programs. Utah State has also made efforts to upgrade its facilities with recent additions of the Wayne Estes Center, new turf for Maverick Stadium and LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field, and plans to build a new $30 million indoor practice facility in the future.

“Our intention is to continue to invest in this area and try and make sure all of our sports are successful,” Hartwell said. “It’s something that will benefit all of our student-athletes.”

Sometimes, equitable and proportional investment can be seen as a limit on athletics. This is because schools have to balance investments and opportunities between the sexes to ensure compliance, which sometimes means schools sponsor fewer sports for one gender or forgo more expensive sports like football.

Hartwell doesn’t see it this way, however.

“I don’t think it limits what you do,” Hartwell said. “I think that’s a glass-half-empty view of things. I think it promotes opportunities for female student-athletes.”

Amy Crosbie, USU’s Executive Associate Athletics Director for Internal Affairs, agreed with Hartwell.

“The nature of Title IX is to expand opportunities, not to remove them, and so in the spirit of Title IX, those who are looking to be compliant need to look to expand opportunities for whatever the underrepresented sex is,” Crosbie said.

Crosbie added that Title IX is “100%” the reason women have more opportunities and participate more than in the past.

“If you look pre-Title IX and now you look at post-Title IX, the opportunities for women to compete in athletics from the high school level to the collegiate level and into the professional level have expanded exponentially,” Crosbie said.

That expansion included an opportunity for Crosbie herself to play volleyball for Utah State from 1997 to 2000 on the team the Aggies started after Title IX took effect in the 1970s.

Current Utah State student-athletes and coaches agreed that Title IX has provided them opportunities that would not have been available without the legislation.

Olivia Wikstrom, a junior guard on the women’s basketball team, said the 50th anniversary of Title IX helps her “reflect on how far women’s sports have come.”

“It just makes me feel really grateful for all the opportunities that me and women today have in sports that they didn’t have in the past,” Wikstrom said.

Kayla Ard, head coach of USU’s women’s basketball team, added that she felt “kind of lucky” because she gets to “reap the benefits” of the progress made by the women before her.

While there have been substantial gains toward equality in the last 50 years, the USU community said there is still room to grow. Sara Taylor, a forward on the Aggie soccer team, said the biggest gap she sees between men’s and women’s sports is publicity.

“More people go to men’s sports and more people just know about them,” Taylor said. “I think people will come to women’s sports a little more if they’re advertised as much.”

Despite the gap, Taylor said she has seen efforts to increase visibility grow during her time at USU.

“In the four years that I’ve been here, I’ve seen an increase in the amount of advertising for the women’s games,” Taylor said. “It’s just continually getting better.”

Ard also thinks visibility for women’s sports is an issue that can be improved.

“I think anytime you can bring more awareness to women’s sports and female athletes, I think it’s a good thing,” Ard said. “The more we can bring awareness to women’s sports and help people to understand that these are very high-level athletes that work just as hard as the men athletes do and their support means a lot to us.”

Last season, Ard took action and gave away money and food to promote attendance at her team’s games. She thinks promotions are important but added that performance is also key.

“You have to market it of course, and I also think you have to put a good product on the floor,” Ard said. “The more we market it and the better product we put on the floor, I think things will continue to rise in that aspect.”

Another area of focus to improve equality in sports is coaching. Jessica Evanson, an assistant coach for the soccer team, said the world of coaching “still feels like a very male-dominated profession.” However, like advertising, she has seen movement in the right direction.

“I do see more female coaches being hired,” Evanson said. “It’s trending in the right direction and I think over time it will level itself out to where you’re not being only hired because you’re a female, but because you are the top candidate and a female.”

Evanson added that she thinks improvements will continue to happen behind leaders pushing for equality.

“I’m grateful for those that are continually paving the way to continue to want change and to not settle for what’s before us,” Evanson said.

Overall, most Aggies seem to view Title IX as an impactful tool that has helped and will continue to help Utah State move toward equality.

“We haven’t arrived, so it’s not like we’re exactly where we want to be, but we are where we are now because of Title IX, and we just need to continue to grow and evaluate what the next 50 years are going to be,” Crosbie said. “When they are celebrating the 100th anniversary, I hope we will be celebrating true equality.”

-jacob.ellis@usu.edu

Twitter: @JakeEllisonair

Featured photo by Joseph F Myers