When we hear Title IX we tend to think about equality for boys and girls sports teams. But there is more at stake with Title IX than sharing a court, field or lane.
Under this civil rights act students are also protected in the classroom, lunch room and athletic wings.
Title IX was created to equalize gender in schools, whether in sports or in classrooms, later it was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1972.
Currently at Northview we have two Title IX coordinators: Athletic Director, Jerry Klekotka and Director of People, Organization and Accreditation, Liz Cotter.
“I think often times when people hear of Title IX they think of athletics, but it’s really so much more than that,” Cotter said.
All students should have equal opportunities in school and in athletics no matter their gender.
“People need to be held accountable if they are engaging in discriminatory behavior,” Cotter said.
Having students with plenty of different beliefs and morals in one building can sometimes create a hostile environment. If a student feels uncomfortable or threatened in that environment, reporting it to a trusted adult can invoke Title IX, depending on the context. The school then has a legal obligation to investigate any claim made in school.
Before 1972 schools could legally expel any female student who become pregnant during their school career. Sexual harassment claims can no longer be dismiss with a statement like “Boy’s will be boys.”
“We need to make sure that on all of our practices and policies are not making decisions based on [gender, race or disability],” Cotter said.
Historically women were more commonly viewed as being good at domestic activities like cooking and cleaning. This lead the schools to place them in classes which would help enhance those skills. On the other hand, boys were expected to be good at math and science so they were placed in those types of classes. In the past it would have been odd to see a female in shop class or a male in home economics.
Many colleges before 1972 only allowed women to pursue careers that were deemed suitable, if they were even admitted to enroll at all. This change did not only affect women though, because males were also expected to pursue careers that were deemed suitable, after 1972 their opportunities increased as well.
Most notably, before 1972 women were not generally accepted into sports. These days for every boys sports team there is normally a girls team as well.
“We have a higher percentage of guys that participate [in sports] of the total population than girls” Klekotka said.
Despite that, Northview’s athletic program currently has 14 girls sports teams, 13 boys sports teams and 3 coed sports teams. Providing equal sports opportunities is one of Klekotka’s obligations as athletic director, but as a Title IX coordinator it’s making sure that everyone has the opportunity to grow and live up to their full potential on or off the court.
Overall Title IX is bigger and broader than we all know. We forge our own paths. Every year we get to choose our classes, we get the chance to participate in any sport that interests us and if we ever feel we are a victim of inequality we have a policy and representative to help and defend our Title IX rights.
