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EMAIL CONTACT FOR THIS SITE: SaveOUSports ATgmailDOTcom

"Endriss had forgotten to recognize that men are husbands, fathers and brothers, too, not just football fans..."

From USCHO

Jan. 29, 2007

Washington State U. Athletics Experiences Change Since Title IX

by Courtney Adams/Daily Evergreen/Washington State U.

(U-WIRE) PULLMAN, Wash. — Marilyn Endriss could not decide whether to tell a big, burly, tow-truck driver why she and three other women were stuck in a ditch between Pullman and Colfax, Wash., during a blizzard in January 1982.

It had something to do with how she was in Cougar Country, home of Washington State University Cougar football. This man surely would be a fan, and she was here to sue WSU for equal rights in men's and women's athletics.

Endriss decided to tell him, and to her surprise, he congratulated her. He said it took courage to do what they were doing, and he had a daughter whom he hoped would grow up to play sports at WSU.

Endriss had forgotten to recognize that men are husbands, fathers and brothers, too, not just football fans, she said recently. People would support what they were doing even 25 years ago.

Endriss and another lawyer had taken on a case in which a group of female athletes and coaches sued WSU for damages, citing disparities in the treatment and facilities for female athletes.

The Case

Title IX had been passed years earlier and anti-gender discrimination laws in Washington were also passed, but treatment of female athletes were still substandard, Endriss said.

Title IX was part of the Educational Amendments of 1972 that outlined how equal funding of education applies to athletic programs at universities that received federal assistance.

Mary Ellen Hudgins, head attorney for the athletes on the Whitman County Superior Court case — Blair v. Washington State University — said they chose to file under a sex discrimination law in the state instead of Title IX because of the time it would involve in a federal case.

Hudgins and Endriss represented Linda Blair and 38 other female athletes and coaches in the case. The complainants said WSU failed to meet standards of equality between men's and women's athletics that were established under Title IX and Washington state equity laws.

The consequences would reach farther than Washington because both Title IX and state laws had largely been untested. No major suits had been filed until then.

Schools across the country followed and filed suits in the years after to rectify gender inequalities.

At WSU in 1982, men's and women's athletics had shared facilities, all of which were under the jurisdiction of a male athletic director.

Hudgins presented a slide show of the facilities for men and women during the trial. Endriss said the disparity between locker rooms, uniforms, fields and scholarships was very apparent.

"Add it up and you definitely got a sense that women athletes didn't even come up to a second-class status," she said.

WSU coaches and athletes, as well as athletic officials from across the nation, testified.

WSU contended that the state of athletics was because of high-public-interest sports such as football and the big-business atmosphere of those sports.

Attorneys for the university also cited men's sports that received unequal treatment compared to basketball and football. They said women were not the only athletes with grievances.

Amy Cox, a former field hockey player, testified that she had tried to reconcile the issues before the trial. She had spoken with then WSU President Glenn Terrell, the Board of Regents, ASWSU and state officials.

"Terrell originally wanted to talk to women athletes, but when we got to his office, he couldn't remember who we were," Cox told The Daily Evergreen in 1982.

Advisers were too busy with male athletes, field hockey team members said, and administrators ignored a 1979 proposal calling for a reallocation of funds for athletics that was signed by 2,500 students, Cox told the Evergreen.

The Verdict

Judge Philip Faris announced the verdict in March of 1982. He found unequal treatment between men's and women's athletics, but it would be another year before appeals to the Whitman County Courthouse would cease and a decision about the damages would be finalized.

The athletes were awarded damages for costs they incurred while at WSU. They received compensation for practice equipment, practice and game uniforms, awards and travel expenses. It was approximately $100,000 in damages.

"I'm glad it's finally settled. I think we've all been hanging in limbo for quite a while," Marcia Saneholtz, associate athletic department director, told the Evergreen in January 1983, more than a year after the judge announced the verdict.

One issue that was crucial to the case was football, Saneholtz told the Evergreen. Some men's sports run like a business and needed special considerations.

"Judge Faris actually indicated that he did not want to be the death of the sacred cow that would be the death of Cougar football," Endriss said.

The verdict recognized that football is unique and its income was left out of negotiations for the damages awarded.

Football was exempt but, in 1987, the state Supreme Court overturned Faris' decision and ruled that football was no longer exempt from calculations of scholarship and participation numbers.

Progress Since the Decision

Starting in 1988, all women's programs were funded to NCAA scholarship standards and women's recruiting budgets were increased.

Women's soccer at WSU started in 1989, and a lobbying effort in the state Legislature started to generate support for achieving stronger equality.

Crew was added as a women's sport in 1990 and full-time staff was hired. In 1991, WSU initiated a major project to build an addition to Bohler Gym and renovations that would provide equitable facilities for all student-athletes. Construction began in 1997.

Though the changes were slow since Title IX's passage in 1972, they are now apparent, Endriss said.

In 1982, 71 percent of the athletes at WSU were men, now they constitute 54 percent of athletes — of 443 athletes, 237 of them are women, said Bill Stevens, WSU assistant sports information director. In 1983 there were 548 athletes, and 154 were women.

Endriss said that just by looking out at a soccer field on a Saturday, she can see more women playing.

The fact that women are playing at a young age is a step, she said. Women play sports just as much as men now and many of the disparities have been erased.

Now colleges have to provide equal facilities for men's and women's sports, she said.

DROPPED TEAMS

2006 Women's Lacrosse Team

Women's Save Ohio Lacrosse Blog

LaxPower.com message board discussion on OU LAX

Women's Lacrosse web page at OU website

Swimming and Diving

Save Ohio Swimming and Diving

and

Save Ohio Swimming

Swimming and Diving web page at OU website

Save Ohio University Swimming Discussion Forum

Track and Field

Bringing Back Ohio Track Blog

Track and Field web page at OU website

YouTube video put together for the Track and Field Team

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OU Students have an active discussion going on in FaceBook.Com. Click here to go to FaceBook.Com and join in.

EMAIL CONTACT FOR THIS SITE: SaveOUSports ATgmailDOTcom

"Endriss had forgotten to recognize that men are husbands, fathers and brothers, too, not just football fans..."

Jan. 29, 2007

Washington State U. Athletics Experiences Change Since Title IX

by Courtney Adams/Daily Evergreen/Washington State U.

(U-WIRE) PULLMAN, Wash. — Marilyn Endriss could not decide whether to tell a big, burly, tow-truck driver why she and three other women were stuck in a ditch between Pullman and Colfax, Wash., during a blizzard in January 1982.

It had something to do with how she was in Cougar Country, home of Washington State University Cougar football. This man surely would be a fan, and she was here to sue WSU for equal rights in men's and women's athletics.

Endriss decided to tell him, and to her surprise, he congratulated her. He said it took courage to do what they were doing, and he had a daughter whom he hoped would grow up to play sports at WSU.

Endriss had forgotten to recognize that men are husbands, fathers and brothers, too, not just football fans, she said recently. People would support what they were doing even 25 years ago.

Endriss and another lawyer had taken on a case in which a group of female athletes and coaches sued WSU for damages, citing disparities in the treatment and facilities for female athletes.

The Case

Title IX had been passed years earlier and anti-gender discrimination laws in Washington were also passed, but treatment of female athletes were still substandard, Endriss said.

Title IX was part of the Educational Amendments of 1972 that outlined how equal funding of education applies to athletic programs at universities that received federal assistance.

Mary Ellen Hudgins, head attorney for the athletes on the Whitman County Superior Court case — Blair v. Washington State University — said they chose to file under a sex discrimination law in the state instead of Title IX because of the time it would involve in a federal case.

Hudgins and Endriss represented Linda Blair and 38 other female athletes and coaches in the case. The complainants said WSU failed to meet standards of equality between men's and women's athletics that were established under Title IX and Washington state equity laws.

The consequences would reach farther than Washington because both Title IX and state laws had largely been untested. No major suits had been filed until then.

Schools across the country followed and filed suits in the years after to rectify gender inequalities.

At WSU in 1982, men's and women's athletics had shared facilities, all of which were under the jurisdiction of a male athletic director.

Hudgins presented a slide show of the facilities for men and women during the trial. Endriss said the disparity between locker rooms, uniforms, fields and scholarships was very apparent.

"Add it up and you definitely got a sense that women athletes didn't even come up to a second-class status," she said.

WSU coaches and athletes, as well as athletic officials from across the nation, testified.

WSU contended that the state of athletics was because of high-public-interest sports such as football and the big-business atmosphere of those sports.

Attorneys for the university also cited men's sports that received unequal treatment compared to basketball and football. They said women were not the only athletes with grievances.

Amy Cox, a former field hockey player, testified that she had tried to reconcile the issues before the trial. She had spoken with then WSU President Glenn Terrell, the Board of Regents, ASWSU and state officials.

"Terrell originally wanted to talk to women athletes, but when we got to his office, he couldn't remember who we were," Cox told The Daily Evergreen in 1982.

Advisers were too busy with male athletes, field hockey team members said, and administrators ignored a 1979 proposal calling for a reallocation of funds for athletics that was signed by 2,500 students, Cox told the Evergreen.

The Verdict

Judge Philip Faris announced the verdict in March of 1982. He found unequal treatment between men's and women's athletics, but it would be another year before appeals to the Whitman County Courthouse would cease and a decision about the damages would be finalized.

The athletes were awarded damages for costs they incurred while at WSU. They received compensation for practice equipment, practice and game uniforms, awards and travel expenses. It was approximately $100,000 in damages.

"I'm glad it's finally settled. I think we've all been hanging in limbo for quite a while," Marcia Saneholtz, associate athletic department director, told the Evergreen in January 1983, more than a year after the judge announced the verdict.

One issue that was crucial to the case was football, Saneholtz told the Evergreen. Some men's sports run like a business and needed special considerations.

"Judge Faris actually indicated that he did not want to be the death of the sacred cow that would be the death of Cougar football," Endriss said.

The verdict recognized that football is unique and its income was left out of negotiations for the damages awarded.

Football was exempt but, in 1987, the state Supreme Court overturned Faris' decision and ruled that football was no longer exempt from calculations of scholarship and participation numbers.

Progress Since the Decision

Starting in 1988, all women's programs were funded to NCAA scholarship standards and women's recruiting budgets were increased.

Women's soccer at WSU started in 1989, and a lobbying effort in the state Legislature started to generate support for achieving stronger equality.

Crew was added as a women's sport in 1990 and full-time staff was hired. In 1991, WSU initiated a major project to build an addition to Bohler Gym and renovations that would provide equitable facilities for all student-athletes. Construction began in 1997.

Though the changes were slow since Title IX's passage in 1972, they are now apparent, Endriss said.

In 1982, 71 percent of the athletes at WSU were men, now they constitute 54 percent of athletes — of 443 athletes, 237 of them are women, said Bill Stevens, WSU assistant sports information director. In 1983 there were 548 athletes, and 154 were women.

Endriss said that just by looking out at a soccer field on a Saturday, she can see more women playing.

The fact that women are playing at a young age is a step, she said. Women play sports just as much as men now and many of the disparities have been erased.

Now colleges have to provide equal facilities for men's and women's sports, she said.

DROPPED TEAMS

2006 Women's Lacrosse Team

Swimming and Diving

and

Track and Field

Copyright 2007 - 2008 by SaveOUSports.org - Email: SaveOUSports AT gmail DOT com

SaveOUsports.org is a non-profit group devoted to action that will reinstate discontinued varsity sports at Ohio University.