Student Full Speech 07: Titus Turdy, Title IX

Imagine a world where women aren't allowed to play sports. Now imagine a world where women aren't given equal opportunities in receiving scholarships. I have been studying Title IX for the past month or so, and I have given other speeches with Title IX as the topic. Today I would like to inform you on what Title IX does for women in athletics, what it does for women in academics, and what it is doing in the future. Let's begin by discussing how Title IX has changed the face of high school and college athletics. I took an audience analysis survey, and it came back saying that most people were not aware of what Title IX was or what it did. However, it did say that most people agree that there should be equal opportunities for women and men in both sports and scholastics. The exact words of Title IX are “No person in the United States shall on the basis of sex be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of or subjected to discrimination under any educational program receiving federal funding,” according to the National Organization for Women. What this results in is usually sports being cut or added to schools in high school and college. More often than not, girls' sports are being added and men's sports are being taken away. This is all in hopes of reaching an equal amount of sports between men and women in order to prevent any sexual discrimination. According the National Organization for Women, before Title IX, only one in every 27 girls played a varsity high school or college sport. However, in 2001 that number changed to one out of every two-and-a-half women. According to Lynn Maritch, AD for St. Mary's College, Title IX has spurred an amazing growth for women athletes and educational programs. My mom played basketball at the University of Nebraska, and she would not have been given the opportunity to play a college sport if it wasn't for Title IX. Before Title IX, Nebraska did not have a women's basketball program, and because of it, they created a program to even out more of the numbers between men and women's sports and gave her an opportunity to get a free college education. More women now can play on intercollegiate teams. Before Title IX, only 32,000 women played college sports. However, the number is 150,000 now. Between 1982 and 1999, the general accounting office reported that 311 wrestling, tennis, and gymnastic teams were taken away from colleges, while 302 soccer, baseball, and basketball teams were added, and football participation rose the greatest out of any sport during this time. After hearing the things Title IX has done for sports, let's get into what it has done for women in academics. Women now have a better opportunity to receive college degrees. In 1972, they received only seven percent of all law degrees while receiving nine percent of medical degrees. In 2001, they now receive 47 percent of all law degrees and 43 percent of medical degrees. Also in 1972, they only received 13.3 percent of all doctoral degrees, and now, over 30 years later, they are receiving nearly half of all doctoral degrees. Title IX forbids discrimination in all university student services and academic programs. It also forbids sex discrimination and employment recruitment consideration under any collegiate program that is receiving federal financial funding. Now that you know what Title IX has done for women in academics, let's get into what it is trying to do in the future. In spite of the great impact of Title IX, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. Sixty-five percent of all doctoral degrees in 2001 were received by women. However, they only received 17 percent of engineering degrees and 18 percent of computer science degrees. Women athletes are beginning to lose more of their scholarships, as well. They have lower budgets, while men's budgets have doubled over the past couple of years. In March 2005, the Department of Education quietly issued a clarification to Title IX, which basically gives schools the opportunity to create a loophole around Title IX and to try and get more men's sports than women's sports. In conclusion, today I have told you about what Title IX has done for women in athletics, in academics, and what it is trying to do in the future. Hopefully now you are a bit more informed on Title IX, know what it does, and know the reason why sports and academics are the way they are in America.