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Assessing The Racial Implications Of Ncaa Academic Measures, Timothy Davis

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

In 1983, the NCAA’s adoption of heightened initial eligibility standards for incoming intercollegiate athletes was met with applause and criticism. Proponents lauded the measure as a legitimate means of restoring academic integrity within intercollegiate athletics. Opponents questioned whether seemingly racially neutral eligibility standards had a disproportionately negative impact on African American athletes. It is against this backdrop that the Article examines the racial implications of the NCAA’s past and present academic standards.

These standards consist of initial eligibility rules, progress-toward-degree requirements, the graduation success rate, and academic progress rate, the latter two of which comprise the NCAA’s Academic Performance Program. …

Title Ix's Trans Panic, Deborah L. Brake

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

Sport has long been a site of struggle over competing conceptions of social justice, with no cultural flashpoint more contested than gender. A key site of contention has been the meaning and application of Title IX. With June of 2022 marking the law’s fiftieth anniversary, Title IX has been lauded as the law that launched girls’ and women’s sports from the shadows to their present, more celebrated posture. As these anniversary tributes often emphasize, female athletic participation has soared to new heights in all levels of sports. But Title IX also houses tensions and dilemmas for gender justice that were …

Title Ix In Historical Context: 50 Years Of Progress And Political Gamesmanship, Helen Drew, Marissa Egloff, Josie Middione

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

On the fiftieth anniversary of Title IX, it is important to recognize both its historic nature and how it has evolved in political and social context. This Article will begin by examining the history of women’s athletics pre–Title IX, focusing on what activities women participated in, why, and how societal norms shaped their ability to do so. Next, the Article will examine the status of women’s athletic opportunities as Title IX was first proposed, with an emphasis upon its nexus to the women’s rights movement and the Equal Rights Amendment initiative. The Article will then provide historical background for key …

What's Wrong With The Ncaa's New Transgender Athlete Policy?, Erin Buzuvis

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

In 2022, the NCAA changed its long-standing policy permitting transgender athletes to participate in teams that correspond to their affirmed gender. For twelve years, the NCAA permitted transgender women to participate in women’s sports events under NCAA control, so long as they first underwent a year of androgen suppression. Starting in 2020, however, a political movement to ban transgender women and girls from competing in women’s sport, galvanized by backlash against a single collegiate swimmer, has challenged NCAA’s inclusive approach. Rather than demonstrate leadership and support for rights of transgender women to compete, the NCAA revised its policy to one …