Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Editorial questions Oregon AD

There was a very well-written editorial last week in the University of Oregon's student newspaper. The author questions the logic of adding competitive cheer, which no school other than Maryland has elevated to a varsity sport, when the reason given for reinstating baseball was that Oregon was the only Pac-10 school without it. The writer concludes that "the choice of competitive cheer, over crew, swimming or gymnastics, serves only to showcase the athletic department's concern with its own bottom line - not with equality for women."

Unfortunately the editorial cartoon that is alongside the column seems to negate the sentiments expressed in it. It pictures two cheerleaders forming a "IX" and holding a placard with "Title" written on it. And they are standing on top of wrestlers. A more accurate depiction of the situation would have been athletic department administrators standing on top of the wrestlers. They are the ones who quashed the program--not Title IX.