NWCA Files Title IX Lawsuit

Wrestling alumni back Title IX fight

   On December 13, 2002 alumni from EIWA (Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) schools met with National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) leadership at the New York Athletic Club to learn about the Washington, D.C. based efforts to change the current enforcement of Title IX. Present at the event were alumni from Princeton, Columbia, Penn, Yale, Syracuse, and William and Mary. Pledges were made to help fund a lawsuit filed against the Department of Education by the NWCA. Bucknell, Marquette, and Yale Wrestling are named as co-plaintiffs in the suit.

Federal Lawsuit Challenges Title IX Enforcement
Wrestlers Confront Department of Education

WASHINGTON, D.C. ­ January 16, 2002 ­ In what could be the strongest challenge ever brought against the way the Department of Education interprets and enforces Title IX, a lawsuit was filed in federal court today that seeks to protect collegiate athletic programs from being eliminated due to Title IX actions.

   The suit, filed by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, alleges that in 1996 the Department of Education unlawfully altered the way it interprets Title IX. That improper rulemaking and its enforcement have led to the arbitrary elimination of hundreds of athletic programs at schools across the country, costing student-athletes both scholarships and their opportunity to compete. NWCA seeks to restore Title IX to its original intent ­ providing equal opportunity without discriminating against any student-athlete.

   'We hope this lawsuit will lead to a more reasonable way to enforce Title IX, one that protects women without harming men,' said Mike Moyer, Executive Director of the NWCA. 'Students across the country are having their athletic dreams taken from them and their academic lives turned upside down.'

   'Title IX is a good law, poorly regulated,' said Eric Pearson, NWCA's Title IX committee Co-Chair. 'Men and women should both have every opportunity to compete intercollegiate sports and thatıs the part of Title IX that we all applaud. The current system of enforcement is a de facto gender quota and has resulted in wholesale destruction of Olympic sports programs at the college level.'

Additional Background and Sources: www.savingsports.com