The Big 10 is on the verge of a historical decision to bring
unprecedented opportunity to women athletes.
The cost, though, will be borne by men. It could involve slicing the sacred cow-football-and wholesale elimination of several men`s non-revenue sports. The result is likely to have football coaches edgy and coaches of men`s non-revenue sports very much on edge because the future of their programs will be in doubt.
Administrator Rick Bay, twisting the old adage, predicts, ”They are going to rob Peter to pay Paula.”
Indeed, Paula, a.k.a. women, stands to benefit. The Big 10 joint group, consisting of athletic directors, faculty representatives and women`s administrators, will meet Monday and Tuesday in Chicago to vote on a two-tiered proposal. It calls for conference schools, within a five-year period, to have 40 percent of their athletes be women. Then within 10 years, the number of men and women athletes would have to reflect the percentage of all male and female students enrolled as undergraduates.
If the proposal passes, it will be forwarded to the university presidents for their approval.
Achieving gender equity will be no small feat. At least seven Big 10 schools, including Illinois, have less than 31 percent women in their programs; Northwestern and Penn State declined to disclose their totals to a Chronicle of Higher Education survey. Four conference schools-Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State and Wisconsin-have larger female enrollments than men.
The Big 10 proposal focuses on overall participation (including walk-ons), and not the number of scholarships awarded. It`s also not about Title IX, the federal law that mandates women receive the same opportunities as men, which has been open to numerous interpretations.
”We`re not trying to define Title IX,” said Big 10 Commissioner Jim Delany. ”We`re looking at gender equity. This asserts the Big 10 value of equal participation. This is a move toward more fairness.”
For advocates of women`s sports, that`s music they have been waiting to hear for 20 years.
”I`m delighted to come back into the conference at a time like this,”
said Merrily Dean Baker, Michigan State`s new athletic director.
Delany wants the Big 10 to be a leader in this area. The NCAA recently instituted a committee to look into gender equity, and national proposals are expected to come from there.
”We want to be proactive, not reactive,” Delany said.
Delany says the conference will put into place a formula to achieve gender equity. Many, though, feel any strategy will involve wielding a knife to men`s sports.
With many athletic programs living in the red, Big 10 schools aren`t in position simply to add women`s programs as a way to make up the deficit. For instance, at Indiana, it would cost the program a sizable sum for the women to gain equality without touching the men`s side. Women account for 52.8 percent of the student body at Indiana, but only 27.9 percent of its varsity athletes. Subtract, not add, seems to be the buzzword.
”The money`s not there,” said Purdue Athletic Director George King.
”If you`re going to add women`s sports, you`re going to have to cut from the men. There`s no other way.”
It already is happening. Last year, Wisconsin cut five sports-three men`s, two women`s. The distribution wasn`t by accident, because the reduction was made with gender equity in mind. Gender equity was one of the key reasons cited when Notre Dame dropped its wrestling program last month.
This week, University of Minnesota President Nils Hasselmo said while he supports the measure, men`s cuts are inevitable.
”Would I be worried if I was a coach of a men`s non-revenue sport?”
said Bay, former athletic director at Ohio State and Minnesota and now president of the Cleveland Indians. ”You bet I would.”
”I wish I didn`t have to say we wouldn`t cut from the men,” said Bob Todd, Illinois` interim AD. ”But that wouldn`t be realistic.”
”It would be awful if we had to drop all sorts of men`s sports,” said Indiana AD Clarence Doninger. ”I don`t think anyone wants (to) have two or three men`s sports and 10 women`s sports. I don`t think that would be right.” The cuts won`t be limited to the non-revenue sports. Football also has been targeted. Placing caps on roster sizes will be considered.
Currently, teams are allowed 92 scholarships, soon to go down to 85. The numbers then swell when walk-ons are included. Michigan State topped the list with 144 players last year, Illinois 131.
While a walk-on doesn`t receive a scholarship, it does cost a school about $1,000 to put him out on the field. Women`s advocates long have seen the number of football walk-ons as excessive, saying the money can be used better elsewhere-such as for their programs.
”How many players do they need?” Baker said. ”You look at the bench, and most of those guys never play, or even come close. I understand football coaches trying to protect their own turf, but everybody has to face cuts.”
But the notion doesn`t go down well with the coaches, who are used to getting whatever they want.
”I understand the situation, but walk-ons are a wonderful tool of education,” said Illinois coach Lou Tepper. ”We got a letter from a kid who couldn`t have played more than 10 plays for us. He said he got a job in Japan, and he thinks the difference was that he was a Big 10 letter-winner. I`d like to have as many walk-ons as we can afford to have.”
”We have to reduce in some areas that are excessive while providing in other areas,” Delany said. ”It`s not an easy thing to do, but we do have room to maneuver.”
With teams at more than 100 players, and no comparable women`s sport, football obviously throws off any gender equity curve. Yet, despite complaints from coaches, Delany says football is included in the overall count.
Baker says the inequities exist even if football is removed. Non-revenue sports such as men`s track and tennis traditionally have more athletes than their female counterparts.
”We have to address that issue,” Baker said.
Delany said schools have to find ways to attract more women within the school to high-participation sports, such as softball.
Delany is confident the proposals can be achieved without wholesale cuts to the men`s programs. Baker said the intent isn`t to ”rob from Peter to pay Paula. The challenge is not to diminish the quality of men`s sports, but to increase the quality of women`s sports.”
The challenge will be formidable, if not impossible, say many Big 10 administrators. Nevertheless, Delany said there is considerable support for the gender equity proposals.
”We`re at 2-1 (men-women ratio), and we`re going to have to take some affirmative steps,” Delany said. ”We`re going to take a significant stand to support the concept of equality. This will get us off the dime.”
