It has been the law of the land for 20 years.

Its intent is simple: to prevent discrimination on the basis of gender from occurring in educational institutions that receive federal funding. Its impact, historically, has been most visible in athletics.

So why is it, after two decades, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 continues to mystify athletics administrators at many colleges and universities across the United States and here in Maine? More importantly, why is it still a topic of heated debate in higher education rather than a fully implemented and accepted part of life?

At the University of Maine’s Orono campus, Athletic Director Michael Ploszek openly admits the state’s only Division I institution remains in non-compliance with Title IX and is therefore, technically, in violation of the law.

Bowdoin College in Brunswick, one of the nation’s most prestigious private institutions, is currently undergoing investigation by the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education for possible non-compliance with Title IX. The investigation stems from a complaint filed by the Polar Bear women’s hockey team.

University of Maine System Chancellor Robert Woodbury says he is not convinced the seven UM campuses, as well as campuses across the country, are pursuing the steps that will be necessary to bring them into compliance with Title IX with enough vigor.

What’s going on here?

To understand the difficulty colleges are having complying with the law, it is necessary to look at what constitutes compliance.

In simplest terms, to be in compliance an institution’s ratio of male to female full-time undergraduate students should be reflected in the ratio of male to female athletes and in the ratio of athletic budget dollars spent on male and female teams.

A college with a 52/48 percent male/female ratio in the student body should have athletic teams comprised approximately of 52 percent males and 48 percent females, with a corresponding split of athletic financing.

Simple. Except when you try to realign ratios that have drastically favored men’s college athletics for much of this century.

The issue also involves more than numbers. Ratios are only one facet, and not hard and fast formulae. Compliance gets into subjective areas like attitude as well. When the OCR investigates compliance, each institution is considered individually with all its particular circumstances taken into account.

According to “Playing Fair, A Guide to Title IX in High School and College Sports” by Kathryn Reith, “The basic test of compliance is equivalence. That is, the benefits, opportunities and treatment of each sex must be equal or equal in effect. That doesn’t mean they have to be the same.”

Reith, who was interviewed for a series starting today in the NEWS, concedes determining compliance “is not simple.” She said, however, “That is not an excuse for ignoring the law.”

“The information is there from the Civil Rights people or from us for those who really want it,” said Reith. “I think the greater problem is money. They’re afraid of what they might find, so the don’t want to look.”

The first part in a three-day series that examines the impact of Title IX on Maine’s colleges and universities begins on Page 13.