Washington – On June 23rd the American Association of University Women will celebrate the 35th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in educational programs and activities that receive federal funding. AAUW was instrumental in the passage of Title IX, a law that has opened doors for women and girls on the athletic field and in the classroom.
“Title IX has been truly transformative, and its effects since its inception 35 years ago can be seen across the country,” said AAUW Director of Public Policy and Government Relations Lisa Maatz. “Girls kicking soccer balls and winning spelling bees, women doing revolutionary research and making their mark on the legal profession – this is Title IX’s tangible legacy.”
Despite Title IX’s success, the fight for gender equity in education has not yet been won and opponents have continued attempts to dismantle the law. Girls and women still face sexual harassment in school and receive fewer opportunities for athletic participation; and sex discrimination is still prevalent in education and the workplace, especially in nontraditional fields.
“This anniversary is an opportunity talk about the continued need for a strong and enforced Title IX,” Maatz said.
Recent Title IX controversies have revolved around some college athletic team cuts and the alleged “boy crisis.”
“AAUW is concerned that some universities are using Title IX as a scapegoat to avoid admitting the real reason for athletic department cuts – budget priorities,” Maatz said. “In reality, Title IX is a flexible law that allows a number of ways to comply.”
“As women continue to make gains in education and the workplace, these successes do not come at the expense of men,” Maatz said. “This insidious implication is at the heart of recent assaults on Title IX that are in turn fueling erroneous notions of a ‘boy crisis.’ AAUW maintains that education is not a zero sum game, and that the real issue is about girls doing better, not about boys doing worse.”
AAUW has continued concerns about the Department of Education’s March 2005 clarification that changed Title IX athletics enforcement provisions. The new rule lowers the bar, making it easier for schools to prove compliance by using a less rigorous e-mail-based survey method, and in so doing jeopardizes the number of athletic opportunities that will be available to women. AAUW believes that no changes to the Title IX standards as applied to athletics are warranted or necessary.
"Response rates to surveys, let alone to e-mail, are notoriously low," Maatz said. "It's quite frankly ridiculous to use spam as an effective way to enforce civil rights."
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was co-authored by the late AAUW member and Rep. Patsy Mink (D-HI).
For more information about AAUW and Title IX, please visit our website.
Read the AAUW testimony on Title IX and sexual harassment before the Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness Subcommittee (June 2007).
To schedule an interview, please contact Rebecca Leaf, senior media relations associate, at 202/785-7738, leafr@aauw.org or Ashley Carr, director of communications at 202/785-7745 or carra@aauw.org.
