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Title IX violations


UAalum72

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There are other measures to showing compliance than just the pure number of athletes.

 

I think I read UA was not planning on adding any sports, but that may have only been adding back any sports that were cut (IE. Tennis).

 

Add roster spots to WLAX and Softball to match the roster size of the men's team and adding a bunch of competitors to womens cross country & the Track and field team and they could probably make up 40-50 spots in a season or 2. That alone would probably show enough progress to meet the requirements of the agreement.

 

I don't know how many roster spots are on a crew team, but if the 20 number was correct, then now the school is within 30.

 

My understanding is that they've been trying to grow rosters for WLAX and the other sports for years. I had someone tell me in a difference context "A woman doesn't want to be number 23 on a roster when she can do other stuff on campus. A guy just likes playing lacrosse with his buddies even if he never gets to play in a game."

 

As far as not planning on adding a sport, I read this as well. The school and Benson specifically are going to have to make a decision on what the best course of action is. But I think they would be best served by PR'ing the snot about ADDING a sport and becoming the model of pursing equity. Turn the bad press into a positive.

 

The flip side of not adding a sport and just trying to do this through roster management is that you have to believe that national women's organizations are watching how this is unfolding. They're going to try to head off the blame game here. Just look at the above comment about blaming Gordon Graham and tennis for filing the complaint. Let's blame the school since it's a problem that has existed for years. Not the person that actually said it outloud (so to speak.)

 

More serious, it does make me angry that it's the damns schools fault for not getting out ahead of this issue to turn adding a sport into positive press. Instead they're having to react. Bahhhhhhh!

 

The choice seems to be a PR Nightmare vs PR Windfall. Add Women's Crew and a get nearly 100 athletes since it's the obvious and logical choice. Do it on the cheap by working with the group of students already rowing. Put additional resources into it over time as the budget permits. Everyone's happy and this issue goes away.

Edited by kikuria
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Pres. Rodriguez told TU audience anout 3 year plan to address T9 issue. AD Benson in attendance but no specifics

UAlbany president to focus on community relations

Story on the luncheon

 

While Rodriguez said he supports and hopes to expand the school's athletic programs, the university is also focused on helping students graduate on time.

"Before anything else, our athletes are students," he said.
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Pres. Rodriguez told TU audience anout 3 year plan to address T9 issue. AD Benson in attendance but no specifics

 

Pres. Rodriguez' reference to a 3-year plan is somewhat misleading (probably not deliberately so) insomuch as it's really just the timeline of the Resolution Agreement signed with the Feds. http://www.timesunion.com/file/237/9/2379-UAlbany%20Title%20IX%20resolution%20agreement.pdf

 

There aren't any specifics about the plan either.

 

The real issue still seems to be how are they going to resolve the numbers issue without adding a sport. IMO, it can't be done unless school cuts a men's sport. And one with a pretty big roster at that.

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Predictable...very little to do with Title IX and more to do with score settling. As these are allegations, the courts will sort it out but according to the ALLEGATIONS, if true...could have handled a lot better by the AD.

 

https://deadspin.com/suny-albany-sued-for-title-ix-violations-after-eliminat-1819070750

Edited by Clickclack
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The problem here is the elimination of 9 tennis women really has little/NO impact on our Title IX issue; other than perhaps bringing it into focus. If we really are 97 positions out of compliance, 9 tennis women only represent about 9% of the issue. The lawsuits and ncaa committees should see this numbers discrepancies and realize the tennis issue is NOT a cause of our non-compliance or minimally @ best. I am not a lawyer (those who are and others, feel free to join in and contradict), but I feel the tennis people do not have a leg to stand on. How can they be a "victim" of Title IX, when they are less than 10% of the issue? Athletic admin. needs to say the elimination of tennis was simply part of a larger plan to control budgets and further changes {i.e. adding crew, eliminating men's soccer [ophs my bias showing], something else} are currently being investigated to bring us in FULL compliance.

 

Of course, the ncaa, the courts and any of you are free to disagree with my assessment.

Edited by dslyank
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Predictable...very little to do with Title IX and more to do with score settling. As these are allegations, the courts will sort it out but according to the ALLEGATIONS, if true...could have handled a lot better by the AD.

 

https://deadspin.com/suny-albany-sued-for-title-ix-violations-after-eliminat-1819070750

 

 

TU Story on it today w/ some more info http://www.timesunion.com/7day-sports/article/UAlbany-AD-Benson-sued-over-Title-IX-violations-12247944.php

Edited by MRSGDG
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We don't want the dejected little whiner back at the university anyhow.

 

Add crew, add anything, but don't bring back Graham.

 

The school year was over. The students weren't thrown out on the street.

Graham was canned and his beloved tennis program was tossed in the trash. He's throwing a hissy fit,

and throwing the athletic department and university under the bus.

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We don't want the dejected little whiner back at the university anyhow.

 

Add crew, add anything, but don't bring back Graham.

 

The school year was over. The students weren't thrown out on the street.

Graham was canned and his beloved tennis program was tossed in the trash. He's throwing a hissy fit,

and throwing the athletic department and university under the bus.

 

I'm of the same thought. Soon as I heard it was a coach of an axe'd program, I said, "figures". Disgruntled former employee with an axe to grind. Had his lovely program been kept, guy would have continued on without batting an eye at the so called Title IX violations. Guy is so old he can't find a tennis gig anywhere else (even the local rec center) so he's forcing UA's hand to try to weasel his way back in. Shmuck.

 

I still think we need to remedy the situation and it should have never gotten to that point...but this Graham dude is a shmuck.

Edited by Eli
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Cutting sports is never pretty but I'm not sure there's a need to bash Graham. The sports cuts in 1994 pissed people off and there were lawsuits then also. Some alums who played those sports are still bitter about it.

 

I don't understand the complaint about the timing of the cuts. They were announced in March. Buffalo cut four sports this year and announced them in April and yeah, there are going to be lawsuits about that also.

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The issue isn't Graham, it's a athletics leadership issue. How do you get to the point where you're off by 97 student athletes? You don't even need a proportional number of student athletes - just had to show that you were meeting the demand. Surely there are national or regional title IX conferences or compliance officer meetings where ideas are discussed.

 

I went through most of the other America East and CAA athletic websites and they all have either rowing, swimming or gymnastics that allow the women a chance for increased athletic participation. Someone in athletics administration must have noticed that.

 

It looks like we have a Senior Women's Administrator, a compliance officer, a deputy athletics director... did none of them go to Mark Benson and say there's an issue?

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The issue isn't Graham, it's a athletics leadership issue. How do you get to the point where you're off by 97 student athletes? You don't even need a proportional number of student athletes - just had to show that you were meeting the demand. Surely there are national or regional title IX conferences or compliance officer meetings where ideas are discussed.

 

I went through most of the other America East and CAA athletic websites and they all have either rowing, swimming or gymnastics that allow the women a chance for increased athletic participation. Someone in athletics administration must have noticed that.

 

It looks like we have a Senior Women's Administrator, a compliance officer, a deputy athletics director... did none of them go to Mark Benson and say there's an issue?

 

While we can kill the messenger in this case Graham and in reality a part of me sees the logic in that he was fine with the violations until his program was cut; so this amounts to sour grapes on his part. The reality is, let's not put lipstick on this pig. It should have NEVER gotten to the point that there is a 97 student athlete men vs. woman discrepancy. Benson is not a stupid man, dollars to donuts he knew he had a problem and did NOTHING to address. He's been here long enough where he should not be allowed to distance himself from this. God knows how long this has been happening but he needs to take charge, lead from the front and fix this.

 

Turn this negative into a positive, NOT to simply be in compliance but actually do what is feasible to truly honor woman in sports, start up crew or gymnastics, whatever is most cost effective. The athletic department and by extension the school will be better for it.

 

Last point; the tennis team is so small, you telling me these kids couldn't have been taken care of and put on academic scholarship or something to give them a chance to finish their education? How much different would the optics have been if tennis was cut but the kids got taken care of and finished their degrees. It would have shown commitment to the kids that were recruited and came a long way to UA. There is a correct way to do things and what UA did.

 

I'm disappointed in the administration.

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Everyone was content before Benson took out the tennis program.

 

Before he dropped the ax, men had 7 programs, women had 10.

Football forces the numbers to askew.

 

Reeder points out that it's not a numbers issue, but meeting the demand.

Wasn't the demand being met? I think women's sports was already being 'honored'.

 

Does the university need to have knitting and power walking programs as well?

 

Wish Benson didn't cut the program. Did he and graham have personal conflicts that we don't know about?

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Everyone was content before Benson took out the tennis program.

 

Before he dropped the ax, men had 7 programs, women had 10.

Football forces the numbers to askew.

 

Reeder points out that it's not a numbers issue, but meeting the demand.

Wasn't the demand being met? I think women's sports was already being 'honored'.

 

Does the university need to have knitting and power walking programs as well?

 

Wish Benson didn't cut the program. Did he and graham have personal conflicts that we don't know about?

According to the report, there's a three part test - they just had to meet one of the three

1. Are the levels of partipation proportional to enrollment

2. Can the university show a history of expanding programs for the underrepresented group

3. Can the university show that interests and abilities of the underrepresented group have been met.

 

According to the report, all they had to do to support the third poimt was have surveys to support that interests and abilities were met. Benson said he believes that the interests and abilities were being met but there didn't appear to be any data to support that.

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Benson said he believes that the interests and abilities were being met but there didn't appear to be any data to support that.

 

 

Uh...yeah, especially when you kill an entire woman's program. I feel bad for the students who committed to UA only to have the program cut...especially when doing so put us in violation of Title IX. Seems like a bad decision all around.

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