TACKLING GENDER EQUITY IN COLLEGE SPORTS

Gender equity in sports.

It is a notion that is sweeping colleges and universities across the nation -- spurred by lawsuits and scrutiny by both the NCAA and the Office of Civil Rights.

The challenge is to find a balance -- boosting up women's sports programs and scholarships while retaining competitive men's sports.

Southeast Missouri State University has taken a prudent approach toward balancing men's and women's sports on campus. We're glad they've put a plan in place as a way to correct this historical imbalance, as well as to avoid potential legal tangles.

We're also pleased to see the university has not approached the matter hastily or haphazardly -- changing the entire sports funding balance overnight.

Women's sports and female athletes should get their due at colleges and universities, and history hasn't always been supportive. But those pushing these changes must also not ignore that men's football and basketball are the bread and butter sports on most campuses. To diminish these sports would jeopardize an important revenue source, and Division I recruitment tool.

Football, especially, tips the scales of gender balance because of the large number of male participants. Some schools have even toyed with the idea of eliminating football because this imbalance is so hard to compensate.

Surely, that's not what women athletes want. What they deserve is more opportunities and scholarships -- but not at the expense of viable sports programs.

Southeast's Board of Regents last week adopted a 60-40 (male-female) percent split in coaching staff, operations budget, number of athletes and scholarships.

Currently, about 65 percent of the athletics budget for operations and scholarships goes to men's sports. And about 70 percent of the school's coaches are men. About 65 percent of the university's athletes are men, compared to an overall undergraduate population of 55 percent women.

This 60-40 shift won't come cheaply. It will cost the university about $193,000 over the next three years.

A second phase of the plan, dependent on several factors, would be to reach a 50-50 percent ratio by the year 2001 -- which would be the school's tenth year in Division I.

The policy approved by the board certainly won't bring drastic changes to Southeast's athletics program. In terms of dollars, it will still be weighted in favor of men's sports -- even though there are currently more women's sports than men's at Southeast. There are seven women's sports and six men's.

After all, higher education's approach to sports really reflects society's expectations from sports. Professional baseball, basketball and football -- male-dominated sports -- are the most marketable. They have the greatest number of fans. That's not to take away from female athletics; it's simply the economic bottom line.

The same holds true for basketball and football at the college level. These are the sports that draw the crowds, revenues and boosters. As we strive for gender equity, we must not turn our backs on our athletic traditions -- even if they are male-dominated.

A sportsmanlike balance, recognizing the positive place of women in college sports and the realities of revenue-generating programs, must be struck. The university appears to be on this track.