Thus achieving two of feminist litigators’ goals at once: 1) sending a message that cheerleading is not a government-approved aspiration for young women; 2) further humbling men’s college sports, since quota incentives are now likely to bring renewed pressure for budget and roster cuts at universities like Quinnipiac. Congratulations! [Inside Higher Ed, earlier here and here] More: Neal McCluskey, Cato at Liberty; Atlantic Wire.
Related: Fascinating USA Today coverage of multiple lawsuits arising from the tense relationship between men’s and women’s athletics at Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania (h/t Jim Copland).
13 Comments
To some degree, the whole Title 9 movement is “Revenge of the Nerds.” Pushed largely by feminists and their male toadies, the real goal is to destroy men’s college sports, above all, college football. I am willing to bet that the vast majority of the Title 9 ideologues never played high school or college sports ( full disclosure: I did play college football though was also a top student) and probably, in many cases, are anti-sports of the male variety. Many schools have been forced to drop mens’ non-revenue sports like track, gymnastics, swimming and wrestling to meet Title 9 quotas. Ironically, most womens’ sports, other than the rare exceptions like UConn womens’ basketball, are money losers that no one wants to buy tickets to see. As for cheerleading, I have great respect for college-level cheerleaders. They are definitely athletes who work hard, perform some amazing stunts and, I might add, have a very high injury rate. Maybe what offends a lot of the Title 9 harpies is that cheerleaders tend to be pretty and have lots of dates; feminists tend to be ugly and dateless. Sorry to be mean, but it is what it is.
sub-par troll, steve. Sub. Par.
in breaking news the judge in the case was found beaten to death this morning. the markings on his face suggested that he was struck by hundreds of pom-poms, to the rythm of “be agressive… B E agressive.”
density, agreed.
What seems to have happened here is that the university tried to evade title 9 by calling cheerleading a sport and the judge decided he wouldn’t let them evade.
btw, at the risk of death by pom-poms myself, no, sorry cheerleading is not a sport. i guess the best way to describe it is sort of an art form. i am a little dubious to place it in the same category as, say, ballet, but in most ways it is. there are no points, there are no rules, except maybe dress codes. its performance. which is not to say it is not strenuous and maybe even requires impressive physicality. i think i will watch a marathon of cheerleading movies, in slo motion, to investigate further. but joking aside, all that doesn’t make it a sport.
And yeah, you might say, “but does that mean figure skating is not a sport.” and yeah, it isn’t. and the rampant corruption in so-called professional skating should teach us it should not be treated as anything like a sport.
What seems to have happened here is that the university tried to evade title 9 by calling cheerleading a sport and the judge decided he wouldn’t let them evade.
That’s a little broad. What the judge said was that the competitive cheerleading squad was not a sport. There is a difference between “side line cheerleading” and “competitive cheerleading.”
The judge basically said that despite competitive cheerleading having competitions, having rules, having a coaching staff, having practice areas and offering scholarships (which is basically the definition of a sport in all other cases) “competitive cheerleading is not a sport.
This will be somewhat interesting as the school had dropped volleyball but established a more formalized program for competitive cheerleading. The volleyball players won the suit, so now you have to tell the cheerleaders that their scholarships, their competitions, and their programs are all gone.
Please explain why competitive cheerleading is not a sport, but gymnastics is?
At the University of Utah, the women’s gymnastics team sells more tickets per meet than the men’s basketball team sells per game.
I’m in the camp that competitive cheerleading is just as much a sport as gymnastics is, and it’s mind-boggling that anyone could find otherwise.
Even leaving cheerleading out of the equation, though, Title IX has been terrible for amateur sports. How many programs have been cut over the years in order to claim compliance? And not just small-time programs. UCLA famously cut its men’s swimming and gymnastic teams, each of which had produced numerous Olympians.
Meanwhile, studies show that women just don’t have the same amount of interest in collegiate varsity athletics as men do. Universities often have trouble filling all the available roster spots on their women’s teams whereas there aren’t enough spots for all the interested men. It’s a travesty.
gitar
I’ll grant you, i am conflating two issues together.
You are absolutely correct to say it is common to call “sports” like figure skating a sport based on all the factors that also apply to cheerleading.
I just think those other so-called sports shouldn’t be considered sports either, because of my own definition.
that being said, as a matter of law, the judge’s decision is dubious at best, given that figure skating would be considered a sport. but at the same time i do stand by my belief that the judge saw this as an attempt to evade title 9 and that was driving his decision more than anything.
i think the real problem with title 9 is it steps right into what is all messed up with college sports. now, let me be clear. Football, etc. can be a great life experience and if handled right, could be part of a rounded out curriculum. but we all know in reality it isn’t rounded out so nicely.
Colleges generally do not engage in sports like basketball, football, baseball to help those students learn, but to bring in money for the unviersity. And as long as it is about making money, and women’s sports do not bring in the money, then universities will have a very rational reason for the discrimination. and congress keeps trying to legislate that economic reality out of existance.
Bob,
Please explain why competitive cheerleading is not a sport, but gymnastics is?
In his ruling, the judge said it was not a sport because the Federal Department of Education Office of Civil Rights had ruled back in 2000 that it was not a sport. As the Office has not ruled otherwise since then, it is not a sport as the Federal Agency who administers the program gets to make the rules.
Secondly, the judge said that there is not a consistent set of rules for the sport as there are several bodies that govern competitive cheerleading.
That being said, I agree with you.
Aaron,
that being said, as a matter of law, the judge’s decision is dubious at best, given that figure skating would be considered a sport. but at the same time i do stand by my belief that the judge saw this as an attempt to evade title 9 and that was driving his decision more than anything.
I agree the judge’s decision was dubious at best. I disagree with your assertion that the school was trying to avoid non-compliance with Title IX. The volleyball team was having difficulty filling roster spots. Women volleyball players were not interested in coming to the college for whatever reason. The cheerleading squad – both sideline and competitive – was turning people away. As the competitive squad was competing in sanctioned events, the school said “we can eliminate sports that our students do not have interest in, and add one that they do have interest in.” Volleyball was not the only sport eliminated in this. Men’s golf and men’s outdoor track and field were also eliminated. The school elevated the cheerleading squad from a “club team” to a varsity level sport. They hired a coach, allocated scholarships, as well as a budget.
I believe if it were just a numbers game, they would not have devoted the resources in elevating the cheerleading squad to a varsity sport.
I think the school felt it was responding to the desires of its students.
Colleges generally do not engage in sports like basketball, football, baseball to help those students learn, but to bring in money for the unviersity.
Just as a point of reference, most schools who field baseball teams lose money. Even at the D-1 level, baseball is not a money maker for most schools. For basketball and football, I totally agree with you.
gitar
i am not saying i believe they were trying to evade title 9. i am saying this is what the judge believed, which is admittedly an opinion and could be wrong.
John: RE your post: How much does a ticket to Utah women’s gymnastics cost vs. a ticket to Utah men’s basketball? And where are both held (I would guess both would be at the Huntsman Center)?
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