On April 17th, the Women’s Law Project filed complaints with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Education against nine members of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PSSHE), asking OCR to address the historical and ongoing failure of these universities to provide equal athletic opportunity to their female students. The nine universities are Bloomsburg, Cheyney, Clarion, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, and Shippensburg.
In a letter to counsel for PSSHE, Terry Fromson, managing attorney of the Women’s Law Project wrote:

“There is no excuse for the athletic disparities at these PSSHE member universities. Despite the fact that Title IX has obligated them to achieve gender equality for more than four decades, these universities have not undertaken genuine efforts to increase opportunities for or satisfy the athletic interests of their female students. It is time for PSSHE as a whole to undertake appropriate and ongoing measures to effectively and promptly address the inequities in their athletic programs.” Fromson added.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex discrimination by federally funded educational programs, requires schools to provide equal athletic opportunity, financial assistance, and recruiting support. To meet Title IX’s equal athletic opportunity requirement, a university must demonstrate that it meets one of three tests: (1) providing women with athletic opportunities in substantial proportion to their full-time undergraduate enrollment; (2) demonstrating a history and continuing practice of increasing athletic opportunities for women; or (3) effectively accommodating the athletic interests and abilities of women. Publicly available information strongly suggests that these universities are unlikely to satisfy any of these tests.

“Each of these universities has failed to provide athletic opportunities to their female students in proportion to the percentage of undergraduate women enrolled in the university. The disparities over the past ten years average between seven and almost 15 percent,” commented Sue Frietsche, senior staff attorney for the Women’s Law Project, who noted that collectively, the nine schools are missing over 900 athletic opportunities for women. “With OCR involvement and State System cooperation, this injustice can at last be corrected,” Frietsche added.