ABSTRACT
This chapter is based on the oral and written testimony presented by the author before the US Department of Education's commission on Title IX, San Diego, California, November 20, 2002. In January 2002, the National Wrestling Coaches Association sued the US Department of Education for the way in which its Office of Civil Rights has implemented Title IX regulations and enforcement. The power of Title IX was not restored until 1988. In 1987, Congress passed the Civil Rights Restoration Act which asserted that if a college received federal assistance then all its departments were subject to Title IX. In the case of gymnastics the answer seems to be schools' concern with legal liability. Indeed, the number of female gymnastics teams lost during this period was 83, more than double the loss of 39 in male teams. The athletics' arms race is alive and well, but it has little to show for itself on the bottom line.
