The University of California, Davis may have discriminated against female wrestlers by barring them from the team unless they proved they could "compete against men under men's rules," a federal appeals court ruled Monday.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a lawsuit filed by three female wrestlers after the school essentially eliminated their sport by making them compete against males of the same weight after the 2000-2001 academic year.
The court turned aside the school's argument that it had cut significantly from its men's programs at the same time, ruling that Title IX law requires institutions receiving federal funding to show they are actively trying to expand women's athletic opportunities.
The school disputes the "very existence of a women's varsity wrestling program" and insists the women were merely allowed to practice with the wresting team and gain some of the perks provided to varsity wrestlers, including coaching, training, laundry services and use of varsity facilities, the ruling states.
In 2007, UC Davis settled a lawsuit for $725,000 by fired women's wrestling coach Michael Burch, who claimed the university had retaliated against him for supporting the women's lawsuit.
Last year, UC Davis settled another Title IX lawsuit by agreeing to within 10 years bring women's participation in athletics to within 1.5 percent of its total female student body, which stood at 56 percent in the 2007-2008 academic year.
Title IX was passed in 1972 and signed by President Richard Nixon, requiring schools to offer equal athletic opportunities to men and women. In the nearly four decades since its passage, a number of female students have sued high schools, colleges and amateur athletic conferences alleging violations of the law.
Resources
News stories: Courthouse News Service website, and Washington Post
UC Davis: Wrestling website
TheMat.com: Schedule and results for February 1-7 and February 8-14
College Wrestling 101: Links to articles answering basic questions about wrestling, including rules, scoring, uniforms, more
Follow College Wrestling Examiner Mark Palmer on Twitter
Comments
confused. how do the 1.5% and the 56% relate to each other? Great article by the way.
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