Gender Equity in Athletics at Notre Dame
The University became co-educational in 1972 and began adding varsity programs for women immediately. Since 1972, the University’s Athletic Department has grown tremendously to its current size of 26 varsity sports – 13 female sports and 13 male sports. Since 1988, Notre Dame has added 8 new women’s varsity sports, the most recent being rowing in 1998. The Athletic Department, under the leadership of Athletic Director Dr. Kevin White, has recently implemented a plan to fully fund all 26 varsity sports, i.e., to provide the maximum number of athletic scholarships allowed under NCAA legislation to each sport. The plan to fully fund all varsity sports is a four-year plan, from 2001-2005, and is now entering its third year.
Women’s varsity sports at Notre Dame have been extremely successfully and have earned national recognition. The University’s women’s basketball team won the national championship in 2001, the women’s soccer team won the national championship in 1995, and most recently our men’s and women’s (combined) fencing program captured the 2003 NCAA championship. Muffet McGraw, the women’s basketball coach at Notre Dame, was named to the national Commission on Opportunity in Athletics to study the enforcement of Title IX during the 2002-03 academic year. During the 2001-02 academic year, the University finished 13th in the Sears Directors’ Cup standings and won its 6th straight Big East Commissioner’s Trophy for women’s athletics. Remarkably, 12 of Notre Dame’s 13 women’s varsity teams (or representatives there from) participated in NCAA post-season competition during the 2001-02 season. Last year, Sports Illustrated for Women named Notre Dame one of the nation’s top 15 universities for women’s athletics. Several former Notre Dame student-athletes play in both the WNBA and the WUSA, and many have entered into coaching careers.
Notre Dame’s Gender Equity Task Force
Notre Dame believes that it can be a leader in demonstrating how colleges and universities can provide an outstanding experience to their female student-athletes and coaches. In 1998, the University’s then-Executive Vice President, (Rev.) William E. Beauchamp, C.S.C., created a Gender Equity Task Force (“task force”) to evaluate and monitor the University’s compliance with Title IX as it applies to intercollegiate athletics. The task force has worked diligently to evaluate and improve where necessary the athletic opportunities and experiences of Notre Dame’s female student-athletes and coaches.
The activities of the task force have included frequent communication with both the University’s head coaches and its student-athletes. From 1998 through 2000, the task force spent the majority of its time evaluating participation opportunities for student athletes, financial aid distribution to student athletes, and compensation for coaches. The task force also reviewed the compensation of senior Athletic Department Staff for equity purposes.
Various personnel changes at the University led to a reconstituted task force that began meeting in September 2001. At that time, Father Malloy and Dr. White appointed Jill Bodensteiner, Associate Vice President and Counsel, to chair the task force. The task force now includes three Athletic Department liaisons: Missy Conboy (Sr. Associate Athletic Director), Sandy Barbour (Deputy Director of Athletics)(former member, no longer with the University) and Bernard Muir (Sr. Associate Athletic Director). The other members of the task force were John Sejdinaj (Vice President for Finance), Bob Foldesi (Associate Vice President for Human Resources) (former member, no longer with the University), Rhonda Brown (Director, Office of Institutional Equity)(former member, no longer with the University), Joy Vann-Hamilton (Assistant Provost), Paula Carlaccini (Facilities Engineer and Project Manager) (former member, no longer with the University), and Mike Favorite (Strategic Consultant, OIT).
In September 2001, the task force began a thorough review of the “laundry list” of items under Title IX. These 11 items are:
- Equipment
- Scheduling
- Travel allowances
- Academic support
- Coaching
- Locker rooms and other facilities
- Medical services
- Housing and dining
- Publicity
- Support services
- Recruitment
To evaluate these items, the task force divided into three working groups, each led by an Athletic Department member of the task force. In addition to the Athletic Department liaisons (Barbour, Conboy and Muir), each working group had two other members of the task force. Jill Bodensteiner, the chair of the task force, worked with all of the working groups. Each working group was assigned 3 or 4 of the foregoing items to evaluate.
The working groups started by gathering any objective information related to their items. Examples of the type of objective information gathered include budgets, locker room square footage, meal plan information, media guides, promotional items (schedule cards, posters, etc.), and facility information. The working groups then interviewed athletic administrators and other University personnel responsible for the various items.
Since 1998, the task force has interviewed every head coach on two occasions: in February 1999 and in February 2002. In conjunction with the February 1999 interviews, each head coach completed an extensive survey that contained multiple elements: detailed description of their job duties (for compensation purposes), their feelings on current and ideal squad sizes, and the adequacy of the 11 laundry list items. The task force has conducted follow-up discussions with the coaches regarding gender equity issues as needed.
The task force has also found multiple means by which to engage student-athletes in the evaluation process. In April 1999, task force members hosted a dinner for multiple Student- Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) members, the focus of which was Title IX education and discussion. The task force met again with the entire SAAC in April 2002; the focus of this discussion was the 11 laundry list items. The task force wrote a memorandum to the SAAC members in conjunction with the April 2002 meeting that described the role of the task force and the basics of Title IX compliance, and urged SAAC members to discuss the issues with their teammates. The task force encouraged SAAC members and their teammates to contact the task force with follow-up questions or problems related to gender equity. During the summer of 2002 – during which several female athletes remained on campus for summer school – the task force hosted two open forums for female athletes to discuss gender equity issues. An invitation to these forums was made via e-mail to all female student-athletes to join the task force for either breakfast or lunch. None of the female student-athletes attended these open forums.
For the first time during the academic year 2001-02, the Athletic Department Student-Athlete Survey contained a gender equity question. The question was open-ended, asking the studentathletes to discuss any aspects of their athletic experience that they feel might be impacted by their gender. The task force compiled and reviewed these responses. Very few student-athletes cited concerns. Of those concerns cited, most were not necessarily gender equity related.
In addition to the task force activities, the Athletic Department monitors key gender equity issues on a regular basis. For example, the Sr. Associate Athletic Director for Business, Missy Conboy, is an expert on gender equity issues and a member of the task force. She reviews the annual proposed Athletic Department budget from a gender equity perspective as part of her regular duties. Likewise, among her employment duties, Ms. Conboy and the University’s Office of the General Counsel review head and assistant coaches’ compensation for gender equity considerations. Completion of the annual Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act report provides another opportunity for the University to review gender equity issues. Ms. Conboy, Jill Bodensteiner and Tom Nevala (Assistant Athletic Director for Business Operations) have primary responsibility for completion and evaluation of the EADA data. In addition, Sandy Barbour and Mike Karwoski (Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance) provide input from the Compliance Office (participation numbers and rates).