It has ruined men's collegiate gymnastics. It has crippled collegiate wrestling. Its next stop - track and field.
The "it" to which I am referring is Title IX, the infamous law designed to rid schools of discrimination towards women.
On March 21, Bowling Green State University announced it will cut four men's athletic programs (indoor track, outdoor track, swimming, and tennis) to meet Title IX regulations.
Title IX is an amendment to the 1964 Civil Rights Act signed into law in 1972. The law is meant to enhance women's opportunities to compete in education and athletics.
Title IX says, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex...be excluded from participation in or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."
Unfortunately, Title IX has turned into a nightmare for many college coaches and athletes, most of them male.
This is not to say Title IX is not a good idea. Women should be given the same opportunity as men, but the goal of Title IX was to create equality by adding opportunities for females, not by taking away opportunities for males.
Michigan State wrestling coach Tom Minkel called it "a good law that is being applied poorly," and that is exactly what it is.
Following the cuts made by Bowling Green, 55 athletes will be without a scholarship and two coaches will be out of a job. Bowling Green plans to keep the athletes on scholarship through next school year, and the coaches will be on salary until July. That is a noble effort for consolation, but when track season rolls around next year, many athletes will be all dressed up with no place to go.
Men's collegiate gymnastics has already taken a hit. In 1976, 138 Division 1 men's gymnastics programs existed. Now there are 23.
The same is true for wrestling. In the early '70s, there were 9,000 wrestlers from 400 different schools. Since Title IX, those numbers have shrunk to 6,345 and 238.
Ball State's head cross country and assistant track coach Jim Trautmann said that Title IX is "greatly hurting" the sport of track and field in America.
"In America, college track is the pinnacle of the sport," he said. "We are like the Minor Leagues. There isn't a club system like in Europe. If collegiate track and field falls to Title IX, that would really strike the heart of the sport."
The bottom line is that the solution our government came up with for the sex discrimination problem just causes more problems than it fixes. Don't believe me? Ask the two Bowling Green coaches who will be looking for a job this summer. Don't believe them? Ask the 55 student-athletes who - if they don't find a school to transfer to - may not be able to finish their college education.
I am a firm believer that if you are going to complain about something, you better have a solution. Well, Title IX has a fantastic goal of equality, but there are few guidelines on how to get there.
Ball State has done a decent job with Title IX. Instead of cutting men's sports, they have added two women's sports (soccer and golf), thus increasing the number of scholarships for women rather than decreasing the number for men.
There are still problems, though. Men's soccer has not become a varsity sport, and probably won't while Title IX is still around. In fact, no men's sports are ever likely to be added at any school under Title IX.
Football still receives 85 scholarships. Dick Falls, Ball State associate athletics director said cutting football scholarships would give the team a competitive disadvantage. I guarantee, however, a good number of those 85 players don't leave the bench on Saturdays.
There is no easy solution to the gender inequality we face, but there is a better one out there somewhere. The problem needs to be solved before we see another sport fall.
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