The following memo was distributed to all Colgate students today: Office Of The President MEMORANDUM September 29, 1992 To: The Campus Community From: Neil R. Grabois Subject: Women's Ice Hockey By now you may well have heard or read that U.S. Magistrate Judge David N. Hurn ruled Monday in Utica that Colgate acted in violation of Title IX by denying the women's ice hockey team's petition for varsity status. Magistrate Hurd has directed that Colgate grant varsity status to the women's ice hockey team starting in 1993/94, and that the college provide equivalent athletic opportunities for its women's ice hockey players. The college is considering several options in response to the ruling, one of which is the implementation of a women's varsity ice hockey program next fall. We are also considering the legal options available to us in relation to Title IX, which in this case was applied to a single sport for what may be the first time. It will take us some time to formulate our final response. Members of the campus community should know that Colgate's program for women athletics is one of the best in the nation by nearly all counts. Over the past 22 years the college has implemented eleven varsity sports for women, all of which now play at the division I level of play in the NCAA. Indeed, while the Committee on Athletics has denied petitions for varsity status from the women's ice hockey club, during the same period of time it has awarded varsity status to women's teams in soccer, cross country and track and field. In other words, the college has applied Title IX to its overall athletic program, assessing interests across the student body and allotting its resources for men's and women's athletics on the basis of that overall assessment. In this case, for the first time that we know, a magistrate judge has applied Title IX through an analysis of a single sport played by both men and women. There will most certainly be costs associated with this decision. We will not know the full measure of those costs until we have determined our final response. Given Colgate's record of developing athletic opportunities for women since 1970, this case is certain to be of interest to many other colleges. We expect to be at the focus of attention, not only in the press, but also in conversations among our colleagues on other campuses. [end of memo] [please note the only the only reason i did not use NC$$ was for reasons of reproduction :-) ] +---------------------------------------------------+ |Carl Lindberg Colgate University '94 | [log in to unmask] | [log in to unmask] | [log in to unmask] (NeXTMail welcome) | +---------------------------------------------------+