In response to a June 4 complaint filed by the National Women's Law Center, the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights has begun an investigation of the University's Title IX compliance.
The complaint against the University was one of 25 filed by the NWLC, a Washington D.C.-based, non-profit organization, against schools whose percentage of athletic scholarship dollars awarded to women do not match their percentage of female participation. This statistic is one of several ways to identify Title IX violations. According to information released by the University, Duke women constitute 35 percent of the athletic roster but are awarded only 27 percent of the department's financial aid; of $4.9 million awarded in Duke athletic financial aid in 1995-96, about $1.3 million went to women athletes.
Roger Murphy, a spokesperson for the OCR, emphasized that strict adherence to the provisions of Title IX-namely, that women and men be given athletic opportunities in exact proportion to their respective enrollment percentages-is not the only way for a school to be deemed in compliance. Schools may also show either "a history of progress" toward this goal or "demonstrate [that they are] meeting the interests and abilities of the under-represented sex fully and effectively," Murphy said. A school could fall under this latter category if, for instance, it could prove low athletic interest from the underrepresented sex through student surveys.
Murphy said the OCR cannot release information on open investigations but noted that complaints filed against institutions receiving federal funds always undergo a 120- to 135-day investigation.
"We are the federal government," Murphy said. "We follow up on all claims. We don't pick and choose which cases to follow up on. When we receive a complaint, we make sure that the institution in question receives federal funds, and then we open a case."
If a school is found in violation of federal law, the OCR works with it to improve its efforts. If the school refuses to make efforts toward compliance, it may lose federal funding, Murphy said.
John Burness, senior vice president for public affairs for the University, said his office received a request for information from the OCR two and a half weeks ago. Complying with Title IX financial aid requirements can be difficult, he said, because each time a school adds a women's sport, it begins awarding scholarships, but only to incoming freshman. This means that when a school adds a women's sport, its ratio of varsity athletes to female scholarships actually decreases.
"Because of this, OCR has tended to be somewhat understanding about the pace," Burness said.
For example, the NCAA allows women's lacrosse to have 12 scholarships, but currently the University's program only has four. This is because the University added women's lacrosse in 1996 and is now phasing in two scholarships per year until it reaches a total of eight, which is the same number as Duke's men's team.
President Nan Keohane said she thinks the University is doing well in its efforts to comply with Title IX.
"Duke has been making a lot of progress in adding sports for women and directing new resources to support women's sports," Keohane said. "I'm confident that these trends will continue, not just because of Title IX but because we are committed to doing these things for Duke."
The NWLC and some other outside organizations, however, think universities like Duke have had ample time to meet Title IX's requirements.
"When Title IX of the Education Amendments to 1972 was adopted by Congress... we knew it would take time for school systems to comply with the law," said Billy Jean King, founder of the Women's Sports Foundation, which recently released "report cards" grading universities on their athletic equity progress. Duke received "C's" in most of its categories.
"We fully supported the 1975 to 1978 three-year 'grace period' for schools and colleges to expand their athletic programs," King said in the forward of the organization's report. "But we never envisioned a future where it would take 25 years to move halfway to the goal of equal opportunity-a quarter of a century!"
In 1996, 67 compliance complaints on athletic discrimination were filed with the OCR, with 17 of these cases at the collegiate level. Murphy did not know how many other complaints had been filed this year.
The other 24 schools in the NWLC complaint are Bethane-Cookman College in Florida; Boston College; Boston University; Bowling Green State University; Brigham Young University; College of William and Mary; Colorado State University; Coppin State College in Maryland; Hampton University in Virginia; Liberty University, in Virginia; Northeastern University; South Carolina State University; University of Colorado at Boulder; University of Maine at Orono; University of New Hampshire; University of North Texas; University of Oregon; University of Texas at El Paso; University of Toledo; University of Tulsa; Utah State University; Vanderbilt Universit; Wake Forest University; and Wofford College in South Carolina.
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