The Courts Opinion in Schmid - Essay Example

The athletic program is subject to the requirements of Title IX as well.  This means that even though the school per se receives no financial aid and it is technically a private institution, the university is still beholden to Title IX statutes.  

This means that the law must be followed even though it does not receive federal money itself.  The university is still obliged to uphold the law outlined in Title IX.  2. Has the college complied with Title IX’s requirement that it effectively accommodate the interests and abilities of women students?     This is a dicey issue.  On one hand, the school, since it must make budget cuts, is being forced to eliminate the women’s varsity softball team.   Also, one of the men’s teams is being cut as well, so it would appear that the university is not being unfair in any manner.  However, since the school is approximately 50% men and 50% women, and since 39% of women compete in sports, it seems as though the school may have a difficult time making its case for why this program should be cut.  On one hand, the women’s softball team does have fewer athletes, than say, the women’s swim team.  It would therefore seem like a logical choice that, in the face of budget cuts, the women’s softball team would be the first to go.

However, because the school is comprised of almost the same amount of men, it seems that the university would want to comply with Title IX. The female student-athletes could probably make a reasonable argument that they were not being given reasonable accommodation under Title IX.  These are the facts.                                          3. On which of OCR’s three “benchmarks” for measuring effective accommodation of student athletes’ interests and abilities might the college base its defense?  What  arguments could the college raise under each?  The first benchmark is one that the college might base its defense on.  The college could raise the factors under each benchmark that:  a) the college had to make budget cuts; b) the cuts that were made were made both to the men’s and women’s teams; and c) the cuts were necessary in order so that the school could continue to function.    Read More