Reversing course on an announcement made last December, Temple University will not eliminate the sports of men's crew and women's rowing, after it was announced that necessary improvements to the teams' boathouse would not incur cost to the university. Instead, the $5 million renovation will be fronted by the City of Philadelphia and a generous trustee.
The other five sports that were named for elimination -- baseball, softball, men's gymnastics, and men's indoor and outdoor track and field -- will not be restored, according to Temple's president. In refraining to revisit the elimination of these sports, the university appears to disregard efforts that proponents of gymnastics, softball and baseball have also made to secure donated facilities and other pledges of financial support to defray the cost to the university of supporting these teams. This appears to underscore Temple's explanation that the cuts derived from multiple factors, including cost, facilities, Title IX, and student-athlete welfare. The Title IX explanation only goes so far. Coupled with the fact that Temple had offered proportionately more athletic opportunities to men than to women, Title IX explains only why it was necessary to eliminate more men's opportunities than women's, but Title IX does not explain why cuts were necessary in the first place, or why seven (now five) teams had to go. It's also been suggested that Temple is slimming down its athletic department in order to fit in with its new, more competitive athletic conference. In the long run, the university seems to want fewer, more competitive programs than a variety of programs that compete for less prestige. That's apparently what they mean by "student-athlete welfare."
Showing posts with label Temple University. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Temple University. Show all posts
Monday, February 24, 2014
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Temple University Under Investigation for Athletic Department Inequalities
Temple University's athletic program is reportedly under investigation by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights for alleged unequal treatment of female athletes with regard to the condition of locker rooms, practice and competitive facilities, housing and dining services, and athletic financial assistance. It does not appear to have been reported whether disparities against any particular women's teams are alleged, and the identity of the complaint is unknown.
Last December, Temple's athletic department announced plans to cut seven varsity teams--both men's and women's. This investigation does not address those cuts. But it could, I think, reveal information to potentially underscore the charges of Temple's critics that the university is "betting big on football." If football is benefiting from higher quality facilities, locker rooms and housing and dining serves than any other team, that would come across in an investigation of gender inequality.
Public data about Temple athletics does confirm a disparity in scholarship dollars. 42% of athletic financial aid is distributed to members of women's teams, compared to 58% to men's. Title IX regulations require scholarship data to flow proportionately to ratio of student-athletes of each sex, and Temple's student-athletes are 48% female.
Last December, Temple's athletic department announced plans to cut seven varsity teams--both men's and women's. This investigation does not address those cuts. But it could, I think, reveal information to potentially underscore the charges of Temple's critics that the university is "betting big on football." If football is benefiting from higher quality facilities, locker rooms and housing and dining serves than any other team, that would come across in an investigation of gender inequality.
Public data about Temple athletics does confirm a disparity in scholarship dollars. 42% of athletic financial aid is distributed to members of women's teams, compared to 58% to men's. Title IX regulations require scholarship data to flow proportionately to ratio of student-athletes of each sex, and Temple's student-athletes are 48% female.
Saturday, December 07, 2013
Temple University Cuts Seven Teams
On Friday, officials at Temple University announced that they were cutting seven athletic teams, reducing their varsity sport programs from 24 to 17. The board of trustees made the decision recently at an emergency meeting, though it is also reported that it followed a "seven month detailed analysis." According to a spokesperson, the motivation for cutting teams was the institution's inability to provide "the quality of student athlete care that we
would like to have for a Division 1 athletic program with this amount of
sports being sponsored" and that they also considered finances, facilities, and Title IX compliance.
I looked at Temple's reported athletics data in order to evaluate the likely role Title IX played in the decision. Presently, the school's student body is 51.3% female, and it offers 49.2% of athletic opportunities to women. These numbers are close enough that Temple could make a strong case for compliance with the proportionality prong. So there's no basis to believe that Title IX played a strong role in the decision to make cuts in the first place. In fact, the university's stated rationale of having too many teams, more than it can afford to maintain at a high level of quality, rings true given that 24 varsity programs is above average (20) for a Division I school in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Moreover, Temple's cuts affect both men's and women's teams: baseball, softball, men's and women's rowing, men's gymnastics, men's indoor track and field and men's outdoor track and field, a total of 172 for men and 84 opportunities for women, producing a distribution of athletic opportunities that are 59% female, 41% male. If Title IX was a dominant consideration, the cuts would have stopped at a ratio much closer to 51.3% female, 49.2% male.
Given the minor role that Title IX seems to have played, the cuts seem more likely to belie the speculation that Temple's new athletic administration is "betting big on football," which would explain the elimination of teams as way to redistribute financial support to it biggest team, which is losing both games (2-10) and money right now.
I looked at Temple's reported athletics data in order to evaluate the likely role Title IX played in the decision. Presently, the school's student body is 51.3% female, and it offers 49.2% of athletic opportunities to women. These numbers are close enough that Temple could make a strong case for compliance with the proportionality prong. So there's no basis to believe that Title IX played a strong role in the decision to make cuts in the first place. In fact, the university's stated rationale of having too many teams, more than it can afford to maintain at a high level of quality, rings true given that 24 varsity programs is above average (20) for a Division I school in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Moreover, Temple's cuts affect both men's and women's teams: baseball, softball, men's and women's rowing, men's gymnastics, men's indoor track and field and men's outdoor track and field, a total of 172 for men and 84 opportunities for women, producing a distribution of athletic opportunities that are 59% female, 41% male. If Title IX was a dominant consideration, the cuts would have stopped at a ratio much closer to 51.3% female, 49.2% male.
Given the minor role that Title IX seems to have played, the cuts seem more likely to belie the speculation that Temple's new athletic administration is "betting big on football," which would explain the elimination of teams as way to redistribute financial support to it biggest team, which is losing both games (2-10) and money right now.
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