UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, April 23,1997
5B
Title IX shaking up college sports
The Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — If you attended college and haven't received a solicitation to help your school's athletic department, check the mail.
Many schools, strapped for money, are asking for donations or seeking corporate sponsors to pay for teams so the schools can equalize athletic opportunities for men and women and avoid sexual discrimination lawsuits.
"The marketing in college athletics at all Division I schools has shown dramatic growth over the last 10 years," said Michael Cleary, executive director of the Cleveland-based National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. "They realize they can't make it on institutional funding alone."
The pressure to raise money to pay for sports will only increase since the U.S. Supreme Court sustained a First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that found Brown University had failed to comply with Title IX. The 1972 law prohibited sexual discrimination at schools that receive federal money.
Although Monday's action sets no legal precedent for other universities and colleges, the practical effect might be enormous.
When the lawsuit was filed by female athletes in 1992, many in college athletics thought Brown—the first school with a women's hockey team—had among the nation's most equitable sports programs.
With Brown's athletic program now deemed discriminatory, the fear is that almost every other school could be found similarly guilty and be forced to make sweeping changes.
At the heart of the issue is proportionality. Under Title IX, the number of female athletes needs to substantially mirror the number of women in the overall student body, according to the First Circuit interpretation.
Brown argued that the percentage of female athletes only needed be in line with the number of female students interested and able to participate in a varsity sport. It said it could determine interest levels through student surveys.
The disparity between the number of men and women athletes at most schools is due to the football team, which sometimes has more than 100 members — enough participants to field several teams in most other sports.
*Schools that will have an easier time complying with proportionality will be those who either have fewer women (than men) or those who do not have a football team," said Beverly Ledbetter, Brown's legal counsel.
George "Buddy" Sasser, athletic director at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C., said he was concerned that football programs would be an inviting target at schools fearing a lawsuit about Title IX.
"I am very concerned, having been a football coach 28 years. What's going to happen to intercollegiate football?" he said.
Kathryn Reith, director of public information for the National Collegiate Athletic Association, said that in the last five years many schools had stepped up solicitations to pay for new or expanded women's teams so they didn't have to cut men's sonals.
The NCAA runs seminars for its members to let them know about successful campaigns like the one at Stanford that tied football stadium improvements to financing for several women's sports, she said.
"Everyone is looking for ways (to comply with Title IX) without cutting sports," she said.
Brown's compliance plan includes adding three women's varsity sports, two of which will be
financed by donations.
Lynette Labinger, the lead attorney for the women who sued Brown, has little compassion for schools that complain about having to make tough choices about what sports to finance yet have discriminated against women for years.
"Any institution that was holding its breath, thinking there was an opportunity to revisit Title IX through Brown hopefully will turn back and look at its sports programs and move ahead with changes." she said.
The Brown lawsuit was filed after the school eliminated financing for two women's teams, claiming it no longer could afford them. Since then, the school has found ways to finance those teams, add other women's teams and not cut any men's teams. Labinger said.
Schools that cut men's teams without looking for other ways to expand opportunities for women are using Title IX as a scapegoat, she said.
"They don't have to cut any teams," she said. "To say, 'We have no option,' I have to say that's a phony response. ... It can be done. If people want to be creative and committed to making things work, whether they do it by reallocating, fund-raising drives, they can do it."
Thomas to purchase Toronto Raptors
The Associated Press
Thomas, currently the team's general manager and part owner, along with a number of unnamed investors, have signed a letter of intent to purchase majority control of the 2-year-old franchise from broadcast magnate Allan Slaight.
TORONTO — Isaiah Thomas put together the Toronto Raptors. Now he's buying them.
"I guess my title will be owner/GM," Thomas said after reaching the agreement Monday following a day of telephone negotiations with Slaight.
interest in the Denver Nuggets.
When the deal is completed, Thomas will become the first African American to head a group with majority ownership of a major-league sports team. Two African-American investors, Bertram Lee and Peter Byno, once owned a small
"I think what it does is open the minds of all the players that they can dream further than being a coach, they can dream further than being a general manager," Thomas said.
Thomas heads what will be the team's third ownership group. Slaight got majority control after initiating a clause last November that eventually forced original owner John Bitove to leave the team.
After taking control, Slaight said he wanted to sell at least part of the team, and Thomas indicated he wanted to buy. The deal was bogged down until Thomas issued an ultimatum that said he wanted the situation cleared up by Monday.
"I don't think animosity is the right word. There was a level of frustration," the former Pistons star said.
The sale is expected to be finalized early this summer, even though the
Slaight currently owns 81 percent of the team — which originally cost $125 million as an expansion franchise — the Bank of Nova Scotia possesses 10 percent and Thomas owns nine percent.
final transfer has to be approved by the NBA's board of governors.
Thomas, citing confidentiality agreements, wouldn't say who his partners were, although reports indicate they include Chase Manhattan Bank and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Thomas did not say how much each might own, but he did acknowledge that Slaight would have the option of remaining as a minority shareholder.
"What it does is show we can finally put the whole ownership issue to rest and put some stability back," Thomas said. "Our goal is still to win an NBA championship."
Thomas has drafted and traded
shrewdly while building an exciting team that went a respectable 30-52 in its second season. He said he would continue to handle player personnel matters.
"Having GM next to my name is not an insult." Thomas said. "I want to put together a great basketball team — an NBA championship basketball team here."
Thomas has inspired remarkable loyalty among his players, and his threat to leave jolted them.
Star point guard Damon Stoudamire, who signed through the end of next season, said he would seek employment elsewhere as a free agent when his contract expired if Thomas weren't at the helm.
"When I came out of college, no one wanted to pick me as high," said Stoudamire, who was the seventh overall pick in the 1995 draft — Thomas first as a general manager.
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