In hopes of educating the community about gender equity in
public schools, the American Association of University Women will
present a forum Tuesday at Gavilan College to discuss fairness in
public education sports programs.
The presentation will address Title IX, a Congressional law
passed in 1972 that prohibits gender discrimination in federally
funded education.
In hopes of educating the community about gender equity in public schools, the American Association of University Women will present a forum Tuesday at Gavilan College to discuss fairness in public education sports programs.
The presentation will address Title IX, a Congressional law passed in 1972 that prohibits gender discrimination in federally funded education.
Featured speakers include Gloria Nevarez, assistant commissioner and senior women’s administrator for the West Coast Conference; Jack Daley, athletics director for Gilroy High School; and Ron Hannon, director of physical education and athletics at Gavilan.
According to Carol Smith, co-president of the council of Gilroy’s branch of the American Association of University Women, participants in Tuesday’s meeting hopefully will get a better idea of what exactly Title IX means and how it affects programs in public schools.
“We wanted to come up with something that would be educational for the whole community, and how we could provide that emphasis to get things going and generate some interest,” Smith said.
Although connotations of Title IX often point to public schools’ sports programs, the law applies to every program in federally funded education. For example, Gavilan’s cosmetology program and aviation programs both have certain regulations they must abide by in order to ensure gender equity as a result of Title IX.
Although Tuesday’s forum will focus on Title IX as it applies to sports, it’s also intended to shed light on how the law affects public education as a whole, said Hannon, Gavilan’s athletics director.
“A lot of people think Title IX is just an athletics issue. It isn’t. It’s a campus-wide issue,” he said. “Any program on this campus that is federally funded, which is about 90 percent of the programs on this campus, has to abide by Title IX. It might have athletic overtones, but there’s a much bigger picture involved.”
Hannon said the presentation is geared toward parents and students of both Gavilan and Gilroy High School – athletes and non-athletes alike – to get a better understanding of what the law means for their college experience.
“From a student’s standpoint, having a basic understanding of ‘How does this impact our college?’ and ‘What does this do for me as a student on this campus?’ is important,” Hannon said. “Students will be able to come in and see there’s a well balance, that there’s support here. And not just to play here, but to get the complete college experience.”
Gavilan College board member Mark Dover said Title IX is an area the college does not take lightly.
“I would say it’s a big priority for the college and for the board,” he said. “It’s long overdue. The president and athletic director really want to tackle this issue and make sure the programs at the college do well.”
Some advances Gavilan has made over the past few years for women’s sports include renovation of its softball and soccer complexes, two new assistant positions for women’s soccer, and equal pay for all head coaches and assistant coaches, Hannon said.
However, challenges still remain – primarily funding to further expand both women’s and men’s programs, which Hannon said is another topic to be discussed Tuesday. The school’s athletics program is considering adding water sports or another men’s sport, possibly soccer, as well as a women’s volleyball team. Feasibility studies and surveys recently conducted in regard to a women’s volleyball team have been “very, very promising,” Hannon said.
Meanwhile, Gavilan’s women’s basketball team is in the midst of restructuring and recruiting more players. The team is not competing this year but is practicing.
Hannon said he hopes local parents, students and student athletes will take advantage of Tuesday’s meeting.
“I think folks are going to come away with a better idea of what Title IX is and how it impacts us and how we can advance our efforts in this area,” Hannon said. “At least, that’s our hope. This is a great educational tool for us to outreach to the community.”
Katie Niekerk is staff writer. Reach her at 408-847-7097 or kn******@gi************.com.
