Crowder College wants men's soccer

Crowder College, a junior college in Missouri, is trying to add men's soccer to its roster of varsity sports for men. According to administrators the primary obstacle right now appears to be enough money to cover both start-up costs and annual costs for coaches, scholarships, and travel.

They do not appear to be all that concerned with Title IX compliance which is mentioned only briefly in this article. With 63 percent of their student body women and only 43 percent of their athletes women they are clearly not meeting proportionality. But the Dean of Student Services says they meet the other two prongs. She also added that courts are more likely to look at things like scholarships, facilities, services, and female coaches.

The people at Crowder do not seem to completely understand Title IX. First, of course , you only need to prove compliance with one of the three prongs in regards to opportunities. But we haven't even heard Crowder's evidence that it is in compliance with prong two and/or three. Second, things like facilities and scholarships are their own issues. A school can have exact proportionality and still be in violation of Title IX because it, for example, provides better fields for the baseball team than the softball team. Equity in distribution of scholarships and services dos not excuse providing fewer opportunities for women.

According to the proposal to add men's soccer, the school is considering adding women's sports as well. But this sounds vague and certainly not as planned out as the intentions for men's soccer. Adding men's soccer and not simultaneously adding women's opportunities places Crowder College in a precarious position.