I weigh in on the College Sports Council’s new Title IX study here. It is so nice to finally have an analytic breakdown on the subject. Too often, we get caught in the trap of only talking locally about Title IX. It makes sense why that would happen — the stories from teams that get cut are usually compelling. But those stories are part of a much larger pattern of destructive behavior in college athletics and it is important to be able to look at historical data and overall trends. So, bravo to the College Sports Council for finally providing that.
It’s also worth noting that the CSC used the NCAA’s own data on athletic participation for this study. How the NCAA could sit on this data without bothering to properly analyze it is the height of irresponsibility. But it’s not surprising. Time and time again, the NCAA has been the enemy of common sense Title IX reform (most recently with their staunch opposition to interest surveys which would alleviate pressure on schools to follow the strict proportionality standard that lends itself to cutting teams).