TITLE IX: Everyone must read this!

[tnmat]

The following is a letter from the Executive Director of the college sports council. If you are in favor of Title IX Reform (the reversal of an equal rights law that has crippled the number of wrestling teams in the US), then you MUST read this and help out.

 

 

 

To Supporters of Title IX Reform:

 

If you are looking for a New Year's Resolution, here is a meaningful one for you to consider. You can help the cause of the many male college athletes that are in danger of losing their college sports opportunity due to the proportionality prong of Title IX by joining our nation-wide "Write a Letter to the Editor or an Op-ed Editorial" campaign.

 

By using the automated features of the College Sports Council˜s web-site www.savingsports.org, this is now a relatively easy task ˜ and one that will help counteract the massive media campaign that the women˜s gender quota advocacy groups have mounted. In case you haven˜t noticed, in recent weeks these groups have held a national press conference discrediting the Commission on Opportunity in Athletics and it's upcoming report, which may be recommending needed reform of the devastating proportionality criteria.

 

Recently, USA Wrestling˜s Gary Abbott laid out the issue quite clearly. Go to http://themat.com/pressbox/pressdetail.asp?aid=6256 for Gary˜s poignant article on the need for immediate action on our part.

 

The media and the public need to be made aware of the true, hard facts about the harmful consequences of proportionality. Here are some facts that the gender quota advocate groups do not like to publicize. Feel free to use them in your letter.

 

In 1985 there were 253 male athletes per NCAA campus. By 2001 this had number declined to 199 male athletes per NCAA campus.

 

There are currently 600 more women's teams than men's teams in the NCAA. This is after a decade of proportionality that has caused the loss of thousands of male athletes through forced squad size reductions and the dropping almost 400 men's teams.

 

In 1979, there were 107 men's gymnastics teams at NCAA schools; there are now just 20 men's college teams.

 

Participants in collegiate intramural sports, which are totally interest-driven, are about 78% male.

 

Track and Field has lost over 91 men's intercollegiate programs since 1991.

 

There are 185 total schools that have some Division I Swimming program. 140 schools have both a Men's and a Women's program. One college has a Men's team, but no Women˜s team. There are 44 schools that have a Women's program and not a Men's program. Thus, Women's programs have a 'net' 43 school advantage or 30% (nearly one-third ) more schools with a Swimming scholarship opportunity.

 

With males projected to be only 41% of college students by 2009 it is clear that proportionality will mean that men will only have half as many NCAA teams as women - and that this will entail the elimination of anywhere from a third to a half of NCAA male athletes.

 

The gender quota advocate groups will lead you to believe that excessive spending for football is the real problem, not the quota. Well, how do they explain that at the three colleges in the State of New Jersey that most recently dropped their wrestling program - Seton Hall, Rutgers-Camden and Rutgers-Trenton, none of these had a varsity football program. They can't. Football is clearly not the reason that men are losing entire teams and walk-on opportunities, but the gender quota advocates just do not want to accept that.

 

Approximately 440 men˜s college wrestling teams have been eliminated between 1972 and 2000. If

you want to see the list of these teams, go to http://www.intermatwrestle.com/college/dropped.asp

 

 

 

 

Directions for Writing your Letter/Editorial

 

Go to www.savingsports.org and click on the ˜Take Action" button. Then select the "Write Editorial" option. A screen will appear where you can write your opinion, and enter your name, address, and email address. After you have finished, click "Submit". A listing of all the newspapers in your zip code and surrounding 100 mile or so radius will appear. You can select one, several, or all of the newspapers to receive your letter. Once you have checked off the intended recipients, your letter will be automatically sent via email to all those so indicated. Easy, eh!

 

So, have you made your Resolution to help our male athletes? Implement it - by writing your letter today. It can make a difference in informing the media and public about the truth surrounding Title IX. Remember, Title IX is a good law, it is just poorly regulated with the proportionality criteria.

 

Best regards for a Happy New Year,

 

Jamie Moffatt

Executive Director, College Sports Council

[JustWrestle]

Because of its great importance to all sports I decided to post to this thread so this would not get lost and forgotten. Please read and do something! It affects all of us greatly!