Title 9

Premise: Fictional Proposed Amendment to Title IX Permitting Exchange of Title IX Credits Among Educational Institutions

A U.S. Congressional candidate, Steven Thomas, has announced his platform, which includes a proposed amendment to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (codified at 20 U.S.C. §1681 et seq.) and the Civil Rights Act of 1987.

Candidate Thomas suggests that Title IX is essentially created to merely create overall gender equality of access and opportunities across the spectrum of educational institutions, with the expectation that this will create overall gender equality of access and opportunity in society as a whole. This understanding of Title IX and its purpose contrasts with and contradicts the present interpretation of Title IX, which requires gender equality of access and opportunity within each educational institution.

In light of his interpretation of Title IX, Candidate Thomas argues that the goal of Title IX is similar to the goal of reducing pollution emissions and, therefore, certain educational institutions should be able to sell and trade Title IX credits in a manner similar to that employed by pollution producers in the sale and trade of pollution credits.

Mechanics of Candidate Thomas’s Proposed Amendment

The proposed Amendment provides that, because student-athletes can control where they will apply and ultimately which schools they will attend, college and university athletic programs subject to Title IX should be assessed Gender Equality Responsibility Units (GERUs) based upon the total athletic opportunities available to men, and Gender Equality Fulfillment Units (GEFUs) based upon total athletic opportunities available to women.

In order to comply with Title IX, each college or university must accurately assess its programs and must submit an annual report indicating that its GEFUs are equal to or greater than its GERUs. Schools whose GEFUs do not equal their GERUs can either balance their programs in a manner consistent with current practices or they can purchase GEFUs from other institutions whose GEFUs exceed their GERUs in a manner similar to pollution credit trading.

The institution selling the GEFUs would be required to apply all proceeds from the sale to the support of female athletic programs at that institution. Participation in this program would be restricted to colleges and universities because student-athletes can control to which of these institutions they apply. Primary education institutions through the twelfth grade would not be eligible because student-athletes typically do not have control regarding which of these institutions they will attend.

Requested Informational Guide For Use by University Athletic Director

The Athletic Director of your university, Adam Best, will be participating in a national television interview to discuss Candidate Thomas’s proposed Amendment to Title IX and has asked you to prepare an informational guide on the topic.

Please include in-text citations using APA format and append a list of all resources/references to your informational guide.

Paper must be 6-7 pages not including title page and reference page.

Identify Title IX, its year of enactment, the salient provisions and the purpose behind the law;
Clarify the entities to which Title IX applies;
Summarize the objections to Title IX, its enforcement, and the resulting practical implications related to measures taken by schools such as UCLA to comply with the requirements of Title IX;
Summarize the arguments in favor of Title IX and the positive impact it has had;
Review the possible public and political implications of the proposed Amendment;
Suggest clarifications or additional conditions to be added to the proposed Amendment (e.g., institutions must clearly state in all recruitment materials that compliance with Title IX is achieved by the average purchase of XX number of GEFUs, where XX equals the average number of GEFUs purchased by the institution in the past 5 years); and
Provide your opinion and bases therefor as to whether Athletic Director Adam Best should support Candidate Steven Thomas’s proposed Amendment. In so doing, consider whether the proposed Amendment:
Is consistent with the intent of Title IX;
Fairly equates the distribution of athletic and educational opportunities with the distribution of right to emit pollution;
Can be practically implemented; and
Is likely to be enacted if it is ever proposed in the U.S. Congress.