No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
Title IX Key Language
Adopted June 23, 1972
The Atlantic 10 Conference, it's membership and the NCAA on Friday celebrated the 45th anniversary of Title IX, the groundbreaking legislation that paved the way for female student-athletes to have opportunities to compete in college athletics.
The NCAA released a report on the federal law and its impact on college atheltics. As part of this report were a few finidings that are directly related to the Atlantic 10:
- The number of female student-athletes is at an all-time high. Both male and female student-athletes continue to set NCAA participation records year after year, but in the 2000s, men's participation numbers in championship sports slightly outpaced women's.
- Women hold about 23 percent of all NCAA head coaching, athletics director and conference commissioner positions.
- Over the past five years, women have outpaced men in acquiring conference commissioner positions. In 2015-16, women held 37 of the 142 available conference commissioner positions — up from 27 in 2010-11.
The Atlantic 10 has the longest tenured Division I female commissioner of a multi-sport conference in Bernadette V. McGlade. Following her hiring by the league in 2008, three other leagues hired female commissioners in 2009-10, two of which replaced male commissioners. The Atlantic 10 has had a female commissioner for the past 23 years, longer than any other Division I Conference.
Additionally, during the 2016-17 academic year there were 57 female head coaches in the A-10, a number that's likely to rise for the 2017-18 season based on open positions. Saint Joseph's and VCU lead the way with six female head coaches each on staff.
Tweets celebrating the Title IX Anniversary
The folowing is an excerpt from the full NCAA release:
In conjunction with the 45th anniversary of Title IX, the NCAA office of inclusion has released a new report on the status of female student-athletes, coaches and administrators in the NCAA.
Titled “45 Years of Title IX: The Status of Women in Intercollegiate Athletics,” the report uses the latest research on female participants and leaders in the NCAA to highlight progress that has been achieved in the decades since the federal law was passed and to address areas that need further improvement. It focuses on three primary areas: participation opportunities for student-athletes, resource allocations for women's athletics programs, and leadership positions in athletics departments and conference offices.
The report was commissioned by the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics, the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, and the Gender Equity Task Force for release this week. It is the second report of its kind, building off findings shared in the first edition in 2012. Both reports were authored by NCAA Director of Inclusion Amy Wilson.
“The NCAA's office of inclusion welcomed the directive from the membership committees that focus specifically on diversity, equity and inclusion to provide this report to our colleges and universities on Title IX's 45th anniversary,” Wilson said. “While the NCAA does not enforce Title IX, it does provide educational resources and programming to support schools' efforts to comply with the law. We hope the report helps our membership with future planning when it comes to making key administrative, operative and programming decisions.”
READ FULL RELEASE (NCAA.org)