Varsity - The Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics

Varsity - November 8, 2012

Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.

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TITLE IX SPOTLIGHT "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance..." Those 37 words, originally called the Education Amendments Act of 1972 but better known as Title IX, barred gender discrimination in all aspects of education. While the amendment says nothing about athletics, Title IX applies to an entire school or institution if any part of that school receives federal funds. Before Title IX, there was no provision for funding women's organized sports. Women's athletics became a part of the UW Athletic Department on July 1, 1974, with the addition of 12 sports — badminton, basketball, cross country, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, rowing, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field and volleyball. There are currently 12 women's sports at UW, as field hockey was replaced by soccer in 1982, badminton was dropped in 1983 and fencing and gymnastics were cut in 1991. Two new sports were added in the 1990s with lightweight rowing (1995) and hockey (1999) joining the list of Badger sports. TITLE IX FACTS In the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, for the first time in Olympic history, there were more women than men (269-261) competing. Today, more than 100,000 women participate in intercollegiate athletics, a four-fold increase from 1971. That same year, 300,000 women (7.5 percent) were high school athletes; in 1996, that figure had in- creased to 2.4 million (39 percent). Since Title IX, the number of high school girls who participate in sports has gone from 1 in 27 to 1 in 2.5. In the same time period, the number of high school boys who participate in sports has remained at 1 in 2. 16 » VARSITY NOVEMBER 8, 2012 TITLE IX CELEBRATION Wednesday, Nov. 21 Volleyball vs. Minnesota, 7 p.m. UW Field House Saturday, Nov. 24 Hockey vs. St. Cloud State, 2 p.m. LaBahn Arena Sunday, Nov. 25 Basketball vs. Evansville, 2 p.m. Kohl Center

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