Title IX · Episode 5 of 10 · 43 min
The Three-Prong Test and the Schools That Cheated It
A statute is only as strong as the rule interpreting it. The episode explains the 1979 three-part test for athletics, the administrators who modeled compliance, and a small Pennsylvania college whose Supreme Court case gutted the law until Congress overrode a veto. It also covers modern roster padding.
Who's who
- Christine GrantUniversity of Iowa's first women's athletic director and AIAW president
- Terrel BellReagan's Education Secretary, named in Grove City College v. Bell
- Ronald Reagan+11 more episodesPresident who vetoed the Civil Rights Restoration Act in 1988
- Amy Cohen+1 more episodeLead plaintiff in the 1990s Cohen v. Brown suit
Where it happens
- Grove City College, PennsylvaniaRefused to sign a Title IX assurance; won in the Supreme Court
- University of Iowa, IowaWhere Grant built a model women's athletics program
- Brown University, Rhode IslandDefendant in the case that upheld the three-part test
Timeline
- December 11, 1979HEW issues the Title IX Policy Interpretation establishing the three-part test
- June 30, 1982Last AIAW championships; the association ends operations and sues the NCAA
- February 28, 1984Grove City College v. Bell limits Title IX coverage to specific programs
- March 1988Reagan vetoes the Civil Rights Restoration Act; Congress overrides, restoring institution-wide coverage
- November 21, 1996First Circuit upholds the three-part test in Cohen v. Brown
Still debated
Critics call the proportionality prong a quota, while defenders note it is one of three options. It is also debated whether the law or the NCAA's market power killed the AIAW, and when creative roster counting becomes a violation.
← PreviousHow the NCAA Fought Title IX to Protect FootballNext →Title IX's 50-Year Payoff: From the Field to the Boardroom
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