In the 1980s there were over 100 men’s collegiate gymnastics teams at the NCAA Division I level. As of the start of the 2021–22 school year, only 13 remain. While any individual school’s decision to eliminate its program can likely be credited to a number of factors, one that is cited consistently is the need to comply with Title IX — the federal equal-opportunity-in-education statute. Title IX prohibits schools that receive federal funds from denying students opportunities to compete in athletics on the basis of their sex. That is, nevertheless, exactly what many schools are doing.
Take the case of Evan Ng. Evan has competed in gymnastics since he was six years old. After rising to the rank of state and national champion, he was recruited by multiple universities to compete at the collegiate level. Evan decided to join the University of Minnesota’s 118-year-old men’s gymnastics team for the fall of 2020 — declining a more generous financial-aid offer from another school — because of his connection with coach Mike Burns and a firm belief in the school’s championship-caliber program.
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