
DATE: Wednesday, April 23, 1997             TAG: 9704230667

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  103 lines

TITLE IX ON MONDAY, THE SUPREME COURT IN ESSENCE DEFINED WHAT GENDER EQUITY WILL LOOK LIKE IN COLLEGE ATHLETICS. DRAMATIC CHANGES APPEAR TO BE ON THE HORIZON. FOOTBALL SCHOOLS FACE THE TOUGHEST CHOICES

At Virginia Tech, 40 percent of varsity athletes are women. At William and Mary, the percentage of female athletes is higher, at 47 percent.

But when it comes to Title IX, the federal law requiring gender equity in college athletics, it's Virginia Tech that's in compliance and William and Mary that has some catching up to do.

That's because at Virginia Tech, 41 percent of the students are female. At William and Mary, women make up 58 percent of the undergraduate population.

Because the percentage of female athletes at Tech roughly equals the percentage of women in the student body, the Hokies are in compliance with one of the chief criteria of Title IX, known as ``substantial proportionality.'' The Tribe isn't.

``Substantial proportionality'' is one of three tests used to measure a college's compliance with Title IX. But it was the one that was upheld Monday, when the Supreme Court let stand a lower court's ruling that the total number of varsity positions for men and women must match their percentage in the student body.

A college also can comply by continually expanding its women's programs, or by meeting the ``interests and abilities'' of its students.

The Supreme Court's decision could have big implications for colleges nationwide, and for some locally and across the state.

``I think you're talking about something that's going to affect college athletics in an unbelievable manner,'' Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer said Tuesday.

At Hampton University, for example, women are 60 percent of the student body but just 40 percent of the athletes. At the University of Virginia, women make up about 50 percent of the student population but only 41 percent of the athletes. Both figures are from a study of 305 Division I schools by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

One way to even the numbers is to add women's sports, or to cut men's. At William and Mary, men's fencing and wrestling already have been cut.

``I think the men's non-revenue programs, that's what's going to be immediately affected,'' Beamer said.

Cuts in men's programs are not being considered at Virginia, athletic director Terry Holland said. The school has taken surveys, on campus and at the high school level, to determine the interests and needs of female athletes. It also monitors women's club teams on campus to determine their interest in moving up to varsity level.

Holland said U.Va. feels it can better support its varsity teams in this way, rather than matching the percentage of female athletes to the percentage of female students on campus.

``I guess this increases the risk someone might decide to sue you, but it would be on an individual basis,'' Holland said. ``But basically our program has been ruled to be on the right track.''

Norfolk State is planning an approach similar to Virginia's. School officials said Tuesday they are planning to survey female students to measure their athletic interests.

At NSU, 64 percent of the students are female. But females make up just 37 percent of the scholarship athletes. Athletic director Dick Price said almost all the female athletes have scholarships.

NSU has discussed adding women's soccer and field hockey, Price said.

At Old Dominion, compliance does not appear to be a problem. Forty-eight percent of the school's athletes are female, compared to about 51 percent of the population, according to athletic director Jim Jarrett.

Still, Jarrett stressed that ``the percentages are just a piece of the puzzle.

``You have to look at the percentage of operating expenses (devoted to women's sports), the recruiting expenses, whether the coaches are qualified, the allocation of scholarships.

``We've been through several NCAA certifications, and we've gotten great marks for our position and our support of gender equity. We feel really good about it.''

ODU was one of the pioneers in gender equity, pumping money into women's sports long before it was fashionable. But the school is also helped by the fact that it doesn't have a football team. Football, even at the Division II and I-AA levels, drives up the number of male athletes at a school. Women have no comparable sport to add to their numbers.

What's more, most I-AA and Division II football programs do not make money. For that reason, Beamer thinks the Supreme Court's decision could have a negative impact on small-school football.

``You start complying with this thing and I could see football being the first thing to go in Division II and I-AA even,'' Beamer said. ``I think it's a tremendous blow.'' MEMO: Staff writers Steve Carlson, Rich Radford, Frank Vehorn and Vanee

Vines contributed to this report.Staff writers Steve Carlson, Rich

Radford, Frank Vehorn and Vanee Vines contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Color file photo by Mike Hefner/The Virginia-Pilot

file.

ODU's sailing team, which is comprised of men and women, is one of

the few teams at the school that carries its weight financially.

Graphic

The numbers game

[percentage of women in Va. colleges in athletics, in the student

body.]

[a list of some Va. colleges]

For complete copy, see microfilm KEYWORDS: TITLE IX U.S. SUPREME COURT RULING COLLEGE SPORTS

WOMEN ATHLETES VIRGINIA HAMPTON ROADS <