CSU Sports Out Of Compliance With Title IX
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) - The U.S. Department of Education says Colorado State University did not meet gender-equity requirements because it didn't offer enough athletic scholarships for women.
The Coloradoan reports Wednesday that CSU entered into a resolution agreement in January to resolve the complaint, filed last year, according to the department's civil rights office. The complaint, which is anonymous, alleged CSU violated Title IX, the law requiring gender equity in every educational program that receives federal funding.
An audit commissioned by the university last year found that about 57 percent of scholarship funds went to male student athletes during 2011-12, while female student athletes received 42.7 percent. At CSU, 51.5 percent of the athletes are men and 48.5 are women.
CSU says agreeing to a resolution does not mean they're admitting to wrongdoing. To meet federal standards, CSU is eliminating women's water polo and replacing it this year with women's soccer to generate more scholarships.
"Not being fully in compliance does not mean that you're discriminatory," said Christine Susemihl, senior associate athletic director for administration at CSU. "There are reasons for not being in compliance that are not discriminatory. Where we are right now, we are not in compliance because we are phasing in a new sport."
CSU expects to be in compliance with Title IX by September 2016, according to the turnaround plan it has agreed to. If a university repeatedly fails to comply with Title IX, its federal funding could be jeopardized.
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