The 1st Circuit court in Brown v. Cohen made two issues extremely
clear.  First, compliance means that women's athletic interests must
be FULLY AND EFFECTIVELY accommodated, if the ratio of male/female
athletes is not proportionate to the ratio of the student body.
(Brown lost its case precisely on this point:  by cutting two viable
women's teams, it could not show that it had fully accommodated
women's athletic interests.)  Second, cutting men's sports in order
to achieve proportionality is an acceptable means of reaching
compliance, and the affected male athletes have no legal recourse.
 
        What the court has done is to take the three-prong test and make its
parts inter-related.  If the gender ratio of a school's athletes are
proportional, then the school does not have to accommodate all
athletic interests; if the ratio is not proportional -- for whatever
reason -- then the interests of the under-represented gender must be
accommodated.  If they are accommodated, then it is okay if the ratio
remains disproportionate.
 
        The impact of Brown v. Cohen on college hockey will likely be felt
on the fringes, not the center.  The established D-I hockey programs
will continue, as they tend to be major spectator sports for their
respective schools.  Likewise, the established hockey programs at the
D-III level will continue:  they have substantial impact on
enrollment at their schools.
 
        The problems, if they occur, will be at schools where men's hockey
is definitely a minor or peripheral sport in the eyes of the school,
and where budget resources are strained.  These programs may well
continue without a hitch.  But if the school is pressured to add new
women's sports, or is challenged on its proportion of male:female
athletes, then these hockey programs will be extremely vulnerable to
reduction (to club status) or elimination.  Such outcomes are
possible at all three NCAA division levels.
 
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Dr. Stephen E. Roth              [log in to unmask]
Dean of Student Services
Canisius College                    (716) 888-2522
Buffalo, New York 14208         FAX (716) 888-3190
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