In 1972 Congress passed the Educational Amendments. One section of this law, Title IX prohibits discrimination against girls and women in federally funded education, including in athletic programs. Since its arrival, in regards to athletics, there have been arguments for and against the many aspects pertaining to this law. Title IX has had a large impact on high school and college athletics in the attempt to give females an equal opportunity, but the means by which they are achieving this goal is an ongoing debate.
The basic Title IX statute provides: "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 (DeHass 2002)." Two years later the "Tower Amendment" was proposed. This was introduced by senator Tower and was an amendment that would allow revenue-producing sports to be exempt from being calculated into Title IX Compliance.
English: Representative John A. Bingham of Ohio, p...
English: JA LA NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic ...
Women, Sport and Title IX PanelThis amendment was eventually rejected. There was other attempts made at altering Title IX coverage when it came to athletics but they all died before reaching the House or Senate floors. In 1975 the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare had drafted the regulations for Title IX, including one section, which dealt with athletics. It requires institutions to "effectively accommodate the interests and abilities of members of both sexes(Cooper 2003)." This required drastic changes. Athletic facilities and support services for men and women now had to be provided on an equal basis. No longer could you focus all your marketing on male sports while ignoring the female sports. The same went for the facilities requiring that all locker rooms and playing fields be equal in quality.
Since the acceptance of Title IX the entire scope of high...