Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 26, 1994 TAG: 9401260128
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A dozen female athletes sued Tech on Tuesday, claiming the school "knowingly and intentionally" discriminates against women by violating Title IX, a federal law that bars sex-based discrimination by institutions that receive federal aid.
The class-action suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke, seeks to force Tech to upgrade softball, field hockey, lacrosse and crew - which operate as "club" sports - to varsity status. And, it wants Tech to repay the approximately 150 athletes in the four sports for their out-of-pocket expenses to play as club-team members and for the scholarships the lawsuit contends they could have received had Tech funded the four sports.
"It's way overdue for athletic programs and the educational system to be of equal quality for men and women," said sophomore field hockey player Kathy James, one of the plaintiffs. "I'm hoping for the fastest possible way for this to be settled because I would like to have as much playing time as possible."
Deborah Brake of the Washington, D.C.-based National Women's Law Center, which filed the lawsuit, said she has been negotiating with Tech since early December and that "filing doesn't end our discussions."
A favorable settlement offer from Tech, Brake said, would be agreeing to upgrade two programs to varsity level this spring and two more next fall.
Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said the school doesn't know if it will try to settle the suit or let it go to court.
"I think it's perfectly honest to say I don't think we have a strategy at this point," Hincker said.
Tech's female enrollment is about 40 percent, but only about 20 percent of athletic opportunities are for women. Tech offers eight varsity sports for women, providing 92 athletic opportunities, and 11 sports for men, providing 365 opportunities. An internal study of Title IX by Tech, completed last fall, admitted the school's opportunity ratio was "one of the worst comparisons in Division I athletics."
However, Tech has upgraded its existing women's programs in several areas in recent years. On Feb. 14, Tech's Board of Visitors will review an athletic department plan that a source said will bring Tech in complete compliance with Title IX in fewer than five years.
Brake said Tech told her the plan "probably" would result in the school adding four varsity women's sports by 1999: softball, lacrosse, crew and field hockey, which was a Tech varsity sport until 1981.
"Probably" wasn't good enough, Brake said. Hincker said the university couldn't say "definitely" until after the board voted.
"We've been working very hard to address this," Hincker said. "We're going to continue on this approach irrespective of the lawsuit."
Brake said the 12 athletes aren't in a waiting mood.
"[Tech has] not made a firm commitment to changing things in the near future," Brake said. "I would define [five years] as not in the near future. We want the athletes themselves to have the opportunity to play varsity sports."
The suit claims club members have limited access to Tech varsity facilities and pay for their own equipment and transportation, and it claims that female athletes have been denied the same chances to earn athletic scholarships that men have at Tech.
In a news release, Tech cited its efforts in recent years to strengthen resources of its eight women's sports, including increasing the women's sports operating budget by $140,000 for 1993-94 and adding women's soccer as a varsity sport beginning last fall.
The lawsuit says that the 25 playing spots for women "did not begin to redress the significant imbalance" in participation opportunities for women. Besides, Brake said, Title IX has been law since 1972; the regulations governing collegiate athletics went into effect in 1975 with a three-year phasing-in period.
"To talk about another five years to come into compliance . . . To us, that's not reasonable," Brake said.
Brake added that the lawsuit does not ask "the entire program come into compliance right away." Brake's figures show that upgrading four sports to varsity status would add about 80 playing spots for women. That would give women about 30 percent representation, 11 percent below their enrollment figure.
Tech athletic director Dave Braine said he could not reveal details of his plan for Title IX compliance, which has been approved by the school's athletic committee. He did indicate that women's swimming appears safe. It was cut (along with the men's program) in the fall of 1992 but restored in January 1993 for one season after the swimmers threatened to file a Title IX lawsuit.
"To the best of my knowledge right now, we will continue with all of our programs," said Braine, who was surprised by the lawsuit. "It's very deflating that you can accomplish what this whole program has accomplished, yet it still isn't enough."
by CNB