Legal Commentary

Change You Can Believe In: Obama Admin. Strengthens Title IX

By Big Tent Democrat

Via atrios, the strong Executive in action:

The Obama administration plans to change the so-called Title IX policy which governs gender equality in sports, eliminating what some women's rights supporters claim is a Bush-administration loophole in compliance, according to a senior White House official.

[. . .] Universities initially faced three requirements to prove they were complying with the law: that the proportion of male and female students participating in sports at the university was proportional to the number of male and female students enrolled in the university; that the university was expanding opportunities for women students in athletics; and that the university was meeting the athletic abilities and interests of women students.

In 2005, the administration of former President George W. Bush changed the third requirement, allowing the university to prove it was meeting the athletic interests of women by carrying out surveys of students' interest in sports. [. . .] Under the new policy, universities will no longer be able to claim that a low response to surveys means a low interest in sports, the official said. [. . .] The official told CNN the new rules "restore the system to what it was before" the 2005 change. That rule "made it easier for universities to avoid complying with Title IX," the official said.

Well done, Obama Administration!

Full post as published by TalkLeft on April 20, 2010 (boomark / email).