Title IX and Athletics: The Debate over Surveys, Quotas, and the Three-Part Test

THE FEDERALIST SOCIETY’S
CIVIL RIGHTS PRACTICE GROUP and
CHICAGO LAWYERS CHAPTER

PRESENT:

A PANEL DISCUSSION ON:

Title IX and Athletics:
The Debate over Surveys, Quotas, and the Three-Part Test

Title IX, enacted on June 23rd, 1972, requires that “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.”

Last year, the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued its “Additional Clarification” of a three-part test used to measure the Title IX compliance of intercollegiate athletics programs. The Clarification was aimed at helping universities to rely on the third prong of the test, which asks whether the school’s athletic program fully accommodates the interests of female students.

The Clarification–particularly its emphasis on “interest surveys”–immediately drew strong criticism from women’s groups, scores of Congressmen, and the NCAA. The Title IX athletics regulations have long been accused both of shortchanging women and of resulting in the elimination of hundreds of men’s teams across the country.

A panel of experts will examine key questions regarding Title IX and athletics. Are periodic interest surveys a good measure of women’s athletic interests? Does Title IX operate as a quota system for female participation in varsity sports? Is the possible elimination of men’s teams a result of the three-part test? Does OCR’s current regulatory framework accurately reflect the intent of the Title IX statute?

Participants Include:

Professor Richard Epstein, University of Chicago School of Law
Mr. Lou Goldstein, Law Offices of Lou Goldstein
Professor Christine Grant, University of Iowa
Mr. Curt Levey, Committee for Justice (moderator)

Tuesday, August 8, 2006
12:00 p.m. 2:00 p.m. (lunch will be provided)
Wildfire Restaurant
159 West Erie Street
Chicago, IL 60610
Cost: $25/person ($15 for students), $150/table of 6

RSVP: [email protected]
(202) 822-8138