Since my last post on cuts to intercollegiate athletics there have been a few developments.
1. The women swimmers bringing a lawsuit against the University of Iowa have put up a $360,000 bond to cover the costs associated with keeping the team in operation pending the lawsuit. If the university prevails in proving it is not in violation of Title IX, then the money goes to the school. Paying the bond is an indication that the athletes (and their counsel) believe they will win and that they will pursue the case even when they are no longer NCAA eligible (i.e., they graduate).
The school asked the judge to overturn the injunction (from December) which allowed the team to continue operations. Some see this as an indication that this is going to be a long process. This is so disappointing because one, some swimmers are waiting to make decisions about transferring. Two, it just shows that Iowa athletics is once again digging in its heels into some very weak ground as they continue to maintain that the department is an equitable place.
A line from the above linked article mentioned that cutting women's swimming and diving was a risky move for Athletics Director Gary Barta, who was the center of a Title IX lawsuit a mere four years ago. I don't think Barta sees it this way. He has withstood plenty of controversies and lawsuits in his tenure. I guess Gary Barta is like Teflon...Teflon that costs his employer millions and millions of dollars.
2. Who decided digging in their heels on the issues of equitable cuts was not a good idea? Dartmouth. They are reinstating all five of their teams (including the three men's teams that were cut in the July 2020 announcement). The reason provided was fear of a Title IX lawsuit, which explains why the women's teams were reinstated but not why they included the men's teams.
In a statement, the athletic director said: "We have recently learned that elements of the data that athletics used to confirm continued Title IX compliance may not have been complete. In light of this discovery, Dartmouth will immediately reinstate all five teams.”
Curious. The AD does not know what data to use to determine compliance? Does he know what compliance is? While I am happy for the male athletes who will continue their athletic careers at Dartmouth, cutting the men's teams was not the issue.
Reinstating all the teams was a way to temporarily make this controversy go away. I predict that Dartmouth, which has over 30 intercollegiate sports, will make cuts in the near future, though. But this time they make sure they find all that data before announcing their decision.
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