InterMat: Inside info from the N.W.C.A
brought to you byBrute Wrestling
Leo Kocher's Perspective
Volume I
NCAA/USOC Task Force to Discuss
Preserving Olympic Sport Teams in College
The NCAA has agreed to join with the USOC in a task force which will address the
increasing number of dropped sports teams in the NCAA. Members of the task force
include USA Wrestling’s Executive Director Rich Bender. Unfortunately NCAA
Executive Director, Myles Brand, would only allow the NCAA’s participation on
the task force under the condition that discussion of Title IX in the meetings
be prohibited.
The good news here is wrestling has a knowledgeable and strong advocate like
Rich on the task force. The bad news is that when the main cause for the
elimination of programs Title IX gender quotas cannot be addressed it can end up
being an exercise like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Something
positive can still come out of this but don’t hold your breath.
Sad Anniversary
It was one year ago that the Bush Administration - caving into the threats of
the National Women’s Law Center and other quota advocacy groups - refused to
consider any of the Title IX reform recommendations overwhelmingly passed by its
own Commission on Opportunity in Athletics. This amazing display of political
timidity has resulted in 120 more NCAA men’s programs dropped in the last year
alone.
NCAA Sponsored Group Proposes Eliminating 2 High School Weight Classes
The National Federation of State High School Associations is bringing to a vote
a recommendation to move the number of weight classes from the current 14 down
to 12.
The NFSHSA is funded by the NCAA which provided office space to the NFSHSA when
the NCAA headquarters were in the Kansas City area and moved with the NCAA to
Indianapolis a few years ago.
I hope the state wrestling communities fight this. I don’t believe getting rid
of weight classes is a solution to some schools having trouble filling all of
them. Given the NCAA’s endorsement of the gender quotas that lead to the
elimination male athletes in its colleges, it doesn’t give you a lot of
confidence that the reduction in weight classes is being suggested with the high
school wrestlers’ welfare in mind. Make no mistake there is increasing gender
quota pressure in high school athletics.
If a school cannot fill all the weight classes why not drop the administrators
and coach who will not create a program about which the kids can be enthused?
Now there is a solution.
Legal Actions
I have been asked to provide a summation of the litigation efforts directed
at helping our campaign to reform Title IX. The following was composed by Eric
Pearson - Executive Director of the College Sports Council (CSC members include
the NWCA) with help from Larry Joseph - our selfless superstar attorney who
specializes in regulatory law in DC.
The College Sports Council and the NWCA currently have three lawsuits in Federal
Courts.
They are:
1.NWCA v. US Department of Education, filed January 2002.
2. CSC v. US Department of Education, filed December 2003.
3. CSC v. US General Accounting Office (GAO), filed September 2003.
Both the NWCA v. Dept. of Ed. and CSC v. Dept. of Ed. are Title IX cases that
directly challenge the legality of three part test as the established method of
regulating the law. CSC v. GAO challenges the validity of reports published by
the GAO regarding numbers of athletic teams sponsored by
colleges in the United States.
The courts have yet to rule on the merits of any of these cases. The only
actions taken so far by the court involve the case, NWCA v. Dept. of Ed. and
judges have addressed only the question of whether the NWCA and CSC have the
right to sue the Department of Education. Two courts have issued procedural
rulings unfavorable to the NWCA but the coaches have filed for an appeal to the
'en banc' panel of judges. If the 'en banc' request is denied then the coaches
will petition the US Supreme Court. At issue is whether the coaches simply have
the right to proceed with their case
against the Dept. of Ed. under the complaint they filed in January 2002.
(THE CSC V. DEPT. OF ED. SUIT CURES THE PROCEDURAL DEFECTS FOUND BY THE
PRIOR TWO COURTS, THEREBY ENSURING THAT THE CSC WILL HAVE ITS DAY IN COURT
AGAINST THE THREE-PART TEST IN THE COMING YEAR.)
The CSC views its legal initiatives as a key component in its campaign for Title
IX regulatory reform. A lawsuit can serve as a vehicle for publicity as well as
an effective tool to apply political leverage. Winning in court is just one
possible benefit from filing a lawsuit.
One example of a lawsuit that accomplished its goal without actually achieving
victory in court is the case, Women's Equity Action League (WEAL) v. CALIFANO
(Secretary of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.) This case
was filed in 1974 against the agency that was
responsible for regulating Title IX compliance, and eventually dismissed by the
court in 1990. During this 16 year time period this coalition of women's groups
managed to pressure the federal regulatory agency to comply with its demands in
handling Title IX complaints, A PROCESS THAT RESULTED
IN THE DEPARTMENT ISSUING THE THREE-PART TEST IN 1979. Even though the WEAL
case was eventually dismissed, it proved to be an extremely effective tool for
the plaintiffs to achieve their objectives.
Since it was filed, the NWCA v. US Dept. of Ed. lawsuit has been very successful
in drawing the attention of both the media and the Bush administration to the
problems with the three part test. The CSC sees its lawsuits as invaluable tools
to use in its overall strategy to change public perception of Title IX. The CSC
supports Title IX as it was originally written by Congress in 1972. The CSC aims
to achieve regulatory reform of Title IX, so that the law can protect women
without harming men.
Leo Kocher can be reached at
lkocher@uchicago.edu
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