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Essay on The Success of Title IX

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Sports is a powerful force in society today. People of all ages and both sexes watch and participate in different sports in increasing numbers. Equal opportunity to participate in sports seems like a right that is natural and would be a common sense issue, but unfortunately this has not always been the case. In 1972 Congress enacted the Education Amendments of 1972, this contains Title IX which was intended to ensure that discrimination based on sex was eliminated. The area that this has had the most contentious impact is sports. Has Title IX increased women's opportunities to participate in sports during college equitably and fairly? Title IX has increased opportunities for women to participate in college sports programs …show more content…

Three tests were devised to measure if schools are in compliance with Title IX. They are:

1. Ensuring that opportunities for men and women are substantially proportionate to enrollment by gender.

2. Offering sports that fully and effectively satisfies the interests and abilities of female students.

3. Showing a history and continuing practice of expanding the sports programs for women.

Schools need not meet all three, but must meet only one according to the Education Department. These three tests are what all complaints and lawsuits are judged by. They are the backbone of Title IX.

With the law and the means to measure and enforce it in place all we had to do was look for results. The 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta give an indication of the impact Title IX has had on women's sports. Women athletes took home 19 of the 44 gold medals the United States won. The women who have accomplished this are "the first generation of women who, from the time they were little kids, were encouraged to participate in sport." (St. George). This certainty signifies that Title IX has had a positive impact on women's sports.

Another measure of the success of Title IX is the number of sports programs in the country. Has women's sports programs narrowed the gap with men's programs? The answer is a resounding yes! From 1978 to 1996 colleges and university's around the country added 1,658 women's sports programs while at the same time men's sports

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