UMaine has chance to be equity leader

Waking up Tuesday morning must have been a rude shock to collegiate sports fans: an NCAA study discovered unequal spending between men’s and women’s sports.

The shocking truth probably sent thousands of heads into Cheerios’ bowls in a dead faint from the surprise of the NCAA’s four-year study, which comes 25 years after the enactment of Title IX.

Title IX was passed in 1972 to prevent discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded programs.

The NCAA’s report should be closely scrutinized by University of Maine President Fred Hutchinson and the Board of Trustees for the University of Maine System. Currently pending before Hutchinson is whether he will recommend varsity status for the women’s hockey program at UMaine.

UMaine’s Athletic Advisory Board recently recommended to Hutchinson that the program receive varsity status. Hutchinson now has to make a decision and it goes before the board for a vote.

The board’s approval for varsity status for the women’s program is long overdue as the team has been in existence since 1988. The approval could also bring UMaine closer to achieving goals stated in its gender equity plan for athletics.

UMaine should adhere to the old saying of “as Maine goes, so goes the nation,” and be a leader instead of a slow follower in providing equal funding and programs for women.

UMaine could be forced to make cuts or downgrade men’s programs in the future. That will be unpopular.

Even more unpopular, however, is the thought that the kindergarteners getting off the bus down the road could be the first to experience true equity in college sports. That could be the case if the growth rate cited in the NCAA’s study holds true.

– Katrina Veeder, BDN

Like most Maine fans I was disappointed to read that John Gordon was leaving for Delaware and glad to hear Andy Bedard was returning to Maine after two years at Boston College. Gordon has been criticized for not honoring his committment, made by a high schooler, but that seems to be overlooked as to Mr. Bedard.

What is more distressing than John’s leaving was the university’s reaction to his desire to transfer. If the facts have been accurately reported it is only by the grace of a procedural error by athletic director Sue Tyler that Gordon is being permitted to transfer to the school of his choice.

This is appalling.

I’m reminded of a coach that I was priviledged to wrestle and play football for at the Division III level in the ’60s. A teammate of ours was a superlative athlete capable of competing at the highest level. Our coach, George Kovalics, not only did not hinder his transfer, he encouraged and assisted him in doing so. Coach realized that it was in the athlete’s best interest to be elsewhere.

Hopefully, UMaine men’s basketball coach John Giannini is in error in his expectations that John will return to a crowd of angry fans at the Alfond. Rather, I expect that Maine fans will continue to appreciate the two years of outstanding performances John gave the university and wish him well in his future.

– Julio DeSanctis III, Orrington

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