Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The New Gender Panic In Sport: Why State Laws Banning Transgender Athletes Are Unconstitutional, Deborah Brake

Articles

The scope and pace of legislative activity targeting transgender individuals is nothing short of a gender panic. From restrictions on medical care to the regulation of library books and the use of pronouns in schools, attacks on the transgender community have reached crisis proportions. A growing number of families with transgender children are being forced to leave their states of residence to keep their children healthy and their families safe and intact. The breadth and pace of these developments is striking. Although the anti-transgender backlash now extends broadly into health and family governance, sport was one of the first settings—the …

Campus Sexual Assault: Title Ix Regulations, Mandatory Reporting, And Minimization, Meghan E. Quinn

Honors Theses

Campus sexual assault (CSA) is an ongoing and rising crisis that affects many young adults in the United States. Although CSA rates have continued to rise, it is still an institutionally under-examined issue. One major factor that has aimed to reduce CSA within the campus environment is the increase in Title IX and mandatory reporting (MR) policies and regulations. Thanks to laws, like Title IX, the general population has become more educated and aware of sexual assault – even in the face of increased prevalence rates. Therefore, CSA research is necessary in order to get to the root of this …

Fifty-One Years Later: A Case Study On Title Ix Implementation Practices Of The Ncaa, Reece Jason Wisler

Experience Industry Management

Since the implementation of Title IX, the law has increased opportunities for female participation in intercollegiate athletics and changed the perception of women's sports. The purpose of this study was to examine the practices that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) implemented to support Title IX. The methodology of the case study was to create research questions and an instrument that was utilized to guide the researcher when collecting data. The findings of the study concluded that the governmental structure of the NCAA lacks the necessary power to implement policies that support Title IX, but the committees within the organization …

Ongoing Challenges And Success Stories Of Title Ix Compliance In The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference: A Qualitative Study, Louis W. Hurd

Leadership Education Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine the challenges athletic administrations face regarding Title IX compliance and strategies used to maintain compliance. This study will be narrowing the focus to the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NCIS), focusing on athletic administrators, Title IX coordinator/Senior woman administrators, and women’s sport coaches. The results of this study will identify the challenges athletic administrations face with complying with Title IX in their respective schools, as well as how women’s sport coaches perceive that compliance to be fulfilled.

Vignettes Expose Undergraduates’ Perceptions Of Consent And Sexual Assault: Implications For Sexual Assault Education, April N. Terry, Mackenzie Orchard Esq., Vivian Aranda-Hughes

Academic Leadership Journal in Student Research

Under Title IX and the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter, universities were reminded of their obligation to educate, prevent, and respond to sexual assaults and other forms of gender-based violence. The current study used a survey packet including a Rape Myth Acceptance scale, questions about related education, and a scale rating participants’ level of confidence on seven vignettes. The sample indicated participants were more likely to recognize whether consent was given than they were to recognize whether the vignette met legal standards for sexual assault. The results can provide universities with information to better individualize their sexual assault prevention efforts.

50 Years Of Title Ix And Women's Athletics At Holy Cross, Archives & Distinctive Collections, Lisa Villa

Exhibits

Two major events in 1972 brought major changes to the College of the Holy Cross: the passing of Title IX and the admission of women as students. This exhibit commmemorates the 50th anniversary of Title IX and continues the celebration of the 50th anniversary of coeducation at Holy Cross by highlighting the founding and growth of women’s athletics at the College.

It’S Complicated: Field Hockey And Feminism In The United States, Dara Anhouse

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

Only in the United States is field hockey considered a "women's sport," and the story of its unusual transformation of male-dominated “hockey” from the British Isles to women’s-only “field hockey” in America reveals a deeper connection between sport, feminism, and society. A symbol of unlocked freedom for the "New Woman" at the turn of the twentieth century, under Title IX the sport becomes a case study in how gender is reproduced in modern society.

The Pioneering Efforts Of Ellen Larsen: The First Female Sports Information Director At Brigham Young University, Kiana Schlenker

Theses and Dissertations

Title IX began the change of integrating women's sports into universities, but it was up to each university's athletic administration, external media sources, and public relations practitioners to determine how female athletes and sports were supported and publicized. In 1976, Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah hired Ellen Larsen as its first female sports information director responsible for women's sports. Through her 19 years as a sports information director at BYU, Larsen was an advocate for her athletes and helped pave the way for future female athletic administration roles. While there is plenty of literature on male sports information directors, …

Creating A New Sports Division The Importance Of Protecting Women’S Sports While Encouraging Sportsmanlike Competition, Taylor Nilson

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

Creating a new sports division: The importance of protecting women’s sports while encouraging sportsmanlike competition

The foundation of sports is to encourage respectful and fair competition between two or more individuals. For those who choose to participate, they are pursuing the happiness they find in competition, others have found their livelihood in sports, and most find liberty in their carefree activities.

Given the recent rise in the popularity of the transgender community, it is natural for members that want to compete in sports, specifically women’s sports. However, with that there are also those who would abuse this popularity to support …

Care Or Compliance? An Examination Of Sexual Violence And Institutional Responses At Two Crisis Points, Sophia Hartman

Honors Theses

Understanding the existence of sexual violence requires an investigation of the actions and contexts that either permit or prevent this form of violence. There exists a desire to draw a strict line between adolescence and adulthood, especially in relationship to sexual engagement, and in particular its implications for sexual violence. Utilizing Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model of Human Development and the concept of sexual citizenship—one’s right to sexual self-determination as well as the equivalent right of others—this thesis evaluates the perpetuation of sexual violence within the contexts of two crisis points. First, the moral panic during the Progressive Era surrounding female …

Florida Institute Of Technology Ordered To Reinstate Men's Rowing After Title Ix Complaint, Emily J. Houghton, Erica J. Zonder

Human Performance Department Publications

In February 2023, the U.S. District Court in Florida issued a preliminary injunction in favor of six male student-athletes from Florida Institute of Technology who alleged that the university violated Title IX. The male student-athletes filed the lawsuit against Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) in 2022. The student-athletes claimed FIT violated Title IX when the university eliminated rowing and other programs.

Why So Touchy? Navigating Physical Touch In The Performing Arts, Joseph Skillen, Gretchen Alterowitz, Michelle Reinken

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Physical touch is endemic to instruction in the Performing Arts. Two Performing Arts Chairs and the University’s Title IX Coordinator share approaches and solutions to navigating challenges resulting from the use of touch in student-instructor interactions.

Student Experiences Reporting Sexual And Gender-Based Misconduct To The Title Ix Office At A Public State University, Aliya R. Webermann, Kathryn Holland, Christopher M. Murphy

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Twenty-five survivors completed anonymous surveys about reporting sexual and gender-based misconduct to their public university’s Title IX office, including case characteristics, perceptions of the reporting and response process (e.g., helpfulness, respect), and experiences of institutional betrayal and support. Measures and open-ended responses described varied misconduct incidents, reporting behaviors, case outcomes, process issues, and negative process consequences. Additionally, process perceptions correlated with institutional betrayal and support. Findings illuminate how survivors’ Title IX process perceptions relate to experiencing harm or support from larger institutions, and offer insights into developing a Title IX process which maintains student rights and dignity regardless of outcome.

On Your Mark, Get Set, Gender, Emilia Vella

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Women in sport is a territory that is seldom included in politics, yet “woman,” as an identity, is one that comes with political meaning. This thesis will be discussing the inadvertent politicality of women in sport, and the legislation, as well as systems that declare the identity as so.

Title Ix's Trans Panic, Deborah L. Brake

Articles

Sport is an agent of social change, but that change does not always track in a progressive direction. Sport can be a site for contesting and reversing the gains of progressive social movements as much as furthering the values of equality and justice for historically marginalized groups. This dynamic of contestation and reversal is now playing out in a new wave of anti-transgender backlash that has gained adherents among some proponents of equal athletic opportunities for girls and women. In this latest twist in the debate over who deserves the opportunity to compete, the sex-separate athletic programming permitted by Title …

Appraising The Devos Tix Rule: Due Process In Campus Adjudication Processes, Athulya Nath

CMC Senior Theses

The increasing awareness and desire to fight sexual violence on college campuses have led to focusing campus adjudication processes on achieving justice. This thesis will analyze Betsy DeVos’s Title IX changes and explore whether she achieves due process protections in the new policy. This thesis will detail DeVos’s various changes – increased evidentiary standard, live hearing and cross-examination, narrowed definitions, reduction of responsible employees, and presumption of innocence for accused students – and how these changes are beneficial or detrimental to due process as a whole. This thesis will also explore the presence of rape culture on college campuses, the …

Misunderstanding Law: Undergraduates’ Analysis Of Campus Title Ix Policies, Kat Albrecht, Laura Beth Nielsen, Lydia Wuorinen

CJC Publications

Colleges and universities are legally required to attempt to prevent and redress sexual violations on campus. Neo-institutional theory suggests that the implementation of law by compliance professionals rarely achieves law’s goals. It is critical in claims-based systems that those who are potential claimants understand the law. This article demonstrates that: (1) intended subjects of the law (colleges and universities) interpret and frame the law in very similar ways (2) resultant policies are complex and difficult to navigate; and (3) that university undergraduates in an experimental setting are not able to comprehend the Title IX policies designed to protect them. These …

Inconsistency Is The Consistency: The Title Ix Reporting Process For Sexual And Gender-Based Misconduct Within Maryland Public Universities, Aliya R. Webermann, Kathryn Holland

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Title IX is a primary federal legal approach to address campus sexual and gender-based misconduct, yet few students utilize Title IX reporting as a formal campus support, and those that do frequently report negative experiences. In this study, we interviewed 11 student survivors at four Maryland public universities who engaged with the Title IX reporting and response process. Our aims were to (a) examine how Title IX functions in a state public education system with a robust Title IX policy; (b) describe commonalities and differences in experiences; and (c) use theories of institutional betrayal and support to understand aspects of …

Exploring Restorative Justice As An Adaptable Resolution For Gender-Based Misconduct, Jessica D. Naidu

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

Restorative justice, an approach to harm rooted in Indigenous culture, asks three central questions: 1) What is the harm? 2) Who is impacted? 3) How can we repair it? This is a vastly different approach to most criminal justice procedures that instead seek to determine who broke what rule and how they should be punished. Although a modern resurgence of restorative justice has exploded across college campuses, higher education has been slow to adopt the approach for relationship violence and sexual harm. In this study, victim advocates, conduct professionals, and university administrators at the University of San Diego participated in …

Beyond Compliance: Critical Perspectives In Supporting Institutionally Underserved Survivors Of Sexual Violence, William A. Martinez

Masters Theses

Interpersonal and sexual violence on college campuses is rampant. While federal legislation exists to support survivors of interpersonal violence in higher education via the Violence Against Women Act, Title IX, and Clery Act, support specifically for institutionally underserved survivors of interpersonal violence (IUS) tends to be limited in nature. Because of this deficit, institutionally underserved students and survivors of interpersonal violence are often left unsupported by interpersonal violence prevention staff members (IVPSM). Through semi-structured interviews, this critical multisite case study collected information on the perceptions of IVPSM on IUS support and resources, identified gaps in education on how to respond …

Is Title Ix Enough?: Analyzing Feelings Of Institutional Betrayal Among College Students Who Experienced Sexual Assault, Zoe N. Kross

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Honors Projects

Institutional Betrayal reflects the failures of an institution to accurately prevent or respond to students after sexual violence has occurred. Previous literature shows that survivors of sexual assault are at an increased risk of PTSD and anxiety. The goal of this study was to understand what supportive services Macalester survivors want/need and to analyze if students feel supported by their institution. Grounded in analyses of the domestic violence movement, hookup and rape culture, the neuroscience of trauma, the history of Title IX, and commonly used survivor support services, the goal of this study was to understand what survivors of sexual …

Title Ix: An Analysis Of Its Effects On Collegiate Athletics, Hanna Laube

Honors Projects

Title IX has had a monumental impact on the development of women’s opportunities in sports. I conducted three interviews with women athletes who competed in college from 1967-71, 1995-99, and 2009-2014. I also analyzed some primary research on how female athletes remember Title IX and some secondary research on remembering Title IX. In the interviews I found that all the athletes were very appreciative of Title IX, but did not know much about it and therefore could not think very critically about it. In contrast, scholars were very critical of Title IX and pointed out the shortcomings in the law. …

Title Ix Sex Discrimination & Negligence Lawsuit Against Fargo Public School District & The Board Of Education Partially Dismissed, Emily J. Houghton

Human Performance Department Publications

Brian and Jennifer Berg filed a lawsuit as individuals and on behalf of their daughter Regan against the Fargo Public School District (FPSD) and the Board of Education in the City of Fargo in 2021. They argued that Regan faced sex discrimination, deliberate indifference under Title IX, the FPSD Handbook and negligence from FPSD following an alleged sexual assault by a male student off-campus.

Legislative Bill 519: Creating And Lobbying For Original Legislation, Brooklyn Terrill

Honors Theses

This project reflects the process of writing and attempting to pass state legislation, Legislative Bill 519, as a college student. LB 519 is an immunity policy for certain drug and alcohol charges that would be potentially prohibitive to a survivor or witness of sexual assault reporting the crime. The first several sections cover the process of developing and introducing legislation. These sections cover the process of developing the idea for LB 519 and the thought process behind the language and structure of the bill. It then covers the advocacy portion of passing a bill which includes testifying and lobbying for …

Title Ix At 50: Exploring The Impact Of The Law On Cases Of Sexual Misconduct And Participation Equity In Athletics, Erica J. Zonder, Emily J. Houghton

Human Performance Department Publications

June 23, 2022 will mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX; during that time frame there has been a drastic increase in girl’s and women’s participation in sport. There has also been significant political debate and push back to Title IX which has threatened to undermine the impact of the law. Over the last 10 years, Title IX has been synonymous with litigation related to sexual harassment and transgender athlete participation in sport. Additionally, universities have continually sought to cut women’s sports under the guise of budgetary constraints. The purpose of this poster presentation is three-fold: 1) Review recent case …

Terminated Asu Women's Lacrosse Coach Files Retaliation And Wrongful Termination Lawsuit, Erica J. Zonder, Emily J. Houghton

Human Performance Department Publications

Courtney Connor, the former women’s lacrosse coach at Arizona State University, sued the University and the Arizona Board of Regents (collectively, “ASU”) for Title VII and Title IX retaliation, as well as wrongful termination.

Sexism In High Level Sports Organizations, Wilma Jalisa Davis

Women’s Leadership

Title IX was implemented in 1972 to counter discrimination against women. This included women throughout various levels and systems including athletics. Title IX states that in order to receive federal funding assistance, programs and organizations must ban sex discrimination in order to do so. While Title IX has progressed participation rates of girls and women in sports, it has done little to increase and elevate women in leadership positions. Despite an unprecedented amount of women participating in college sports, women are not provided the same opportunities to chase positions in sports administration or coaching (Lanser, 2017). There have been almost …

Queens Of The Hill: How Title Ix Fares In The Hilltop Neighborhood Of Columbus, Ohio, Georgia Tuckerman

CMC Senior Theses

National research indicates that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 leaves Black girls behind in the pursuit of gender equity. Low rates of participation and high dropout rates in girls sports plague low-income, majority-minority high schools. This thesis investigates whether the national research holds true in Columbus, Ohio, specifically at West High School. Following from a series of interviews with coaches, teachers, and a student, I find that West High School’s athletic program is Title IX compliant, but girls at West High School still face severe barriers to sports participation. A school can comply with Title IX and …

Building Our Own Houses: Aapis In Congress, Daenerys Pineda

CMC Senior Theses

During the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-Asian hate peaked and came to national attention. Given the country-wide scope of this issue, a potential avenue for its address is through federal representatives, and particularly through those representatives who identify as Asian-American. This community’s political participation began long before 2020, and this thesis evaluates how Asian-American representatives have provided meaningful political representation in various situations for a national Asian-American constituency. For the purpose of this thesis, I define substantive representation as an action of a representative, using their particular political powers and privileges, in the interest of their constituents. I conduct three case studies …

A Post Title-Ix Analysis Of American Sports Culture: The Women Aren’T Done Yet, Bridget Schauder

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to examine the disparities women continue to face in the realm of athletics since the enactment of Title IX in 1972. This research is important because throughout history women have been left behind in society compared to men and athletics is just another social space where that occurs. Additionally, sports are so important to American culture, yet women still struggle to gain the respect and recognition they deserve. Feminist theory suggests that sports are gendered activities because the knowledge is grounded in the values and experiences of men. This thesis uses interview and survey analysis to understand …