Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons^™

Title Ix Vs. Ncaa: A Gameplan For Championship Equity, Leigh E. Friestedt

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

In 1972, Congress enacted Title IX of the Education Amendments Act (Title IX) to prohibit sex-based discrimination in “any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” While the original legislation did not stipulate “athletics,” Title IX has had a profound impact on intercollegiate sports by expanding the athletic opportunities for women as a covered “program or activity.” However, fifty years after the enactment of Title IX, there are still significant disparities between men’s and women’s intercollegiate athletics, most notably at the high-profile National College Athletics Association (NCAA or Association) Championships.

In 2021, the NCAA hosted the men’s and women’s …

Tragedy And Triumph In Title Ix, Welch Suggs

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The NCAA is trying to send a stronger message about the importance of the educational goals of college sports, as evidenced by the elevation of academic standards. However, colleges send a powerful message to parents by rewarding them for allowing their children to play a single sport year-round, to the exclusion of other activities. If sport offers a stronger guarantee of college admission than study--and Bowen's work indicates that is true not just at big-time sports powerhouses, but also at the country's most prestigious colleges--who can blame a student or parent from diving into sports? The future of women's athletics …

Changing The Rules: Why The Current "Actual Knowledge" Sexual Harrasment Standard Doesn't Make The Cut In Athletics, Andrea Ivory

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

In clear cases of sexual harassment, it is easy and appropriate to punish improper, predatory behavior. In such cases, the victim will be compelled to report the abuse, and the school will be compelled to respond. But the athletic environment occupies the blurry periphery of conduct that violates personhood. Here, in the sports context, intimate contact is routine, whether in heated moments on the field or in the forced companionship on the road. There is an increased risk of sexual harassment because the very environment is characterized by close physical and emotional relationships as well as unequal power relations. Physical …