A study by an advocacy group for men’s sports has concluded that athletics departments at most historically black colleges and universities are out of compliance with Title IX, the federal gender-equity law, and that the law’s requirements prevent those colleges from luring more male students.
Seventy-two of the nation’s 74 coeducational historically black institutions with athletics programs fail to comply with Title IX’s “proportionality” requirement, according to the study released today by the College Sports Council.
Title IX’s proportionality requirement calls for the ratios of male and female athletes to be similar to the overall male and female undergraduate population. The study cites data from the U.S. Department of Education showing that enrollment at historically black colleges and universities is 61 percent female.
Wade Hughes, former head coach of the wrestling team at Howard University, a program that was terminated in 2002, said in a statement that this “proportionality” requirement was preventing historically black institutions from adding more men’s sports teams that could, in turn, attract more male students.
“Many HBCU’s are struggling financially,” Mr. Hughes said. “Adding sports teams for male athletes will not only attract more students to their campuses, but help to achieve a more balanced undergraduate-student ratio. If these schools are forced to comply with Title IX’s proportionality test, then adding sports teams to attract more male students is not an option.”
The report is available at the sports council’s Web site. —Libby Sander