Bob Goin vehemently disputes the charge that the University of Cincinnati is failing to give its female athletes a fair share of athletic scholarship dollars, as required by Title IX.

        The National Women's Law Center this week released a list of 30 colleges, including UC, that it said are shortchanging female athletes. UC women make up 47 percent of the varsity athletes but get only 39 percent of the money, the report charges.

        UC did not dispute those numbers but issued some clarification Wednesday, while also citing a recent U.S. News and World Report story that ranked UC among the nation's top five Title IX schools.

        “I'm offended that the University of Cincinnati's name is mentioned in there,” said Goin, UC's athletic director. “This (Women's Law Center) is not a certification group. The University of Cincinnati is in compliance with the people who certify us, and that is the NCAA.”

        UC also responded with the U.S. News and World Report story of March 2002, which ranked the school No.5 nationally in providing athletic opportunities for women. That report measured the percentage of female student-athletes against the percentage of female undergraduates, showing UC having a higher percentage of female participants (49.8 percent) than female undergraduates (47.7) for the 2000-01 academic year.

        But Marcia Greenberger, co-president of the Washington-based center, recently wrote a letter to UC President Dr. Joseph Steger detailing the group's charges.

        “Though women are 47 percent of the total varsity athletes at University of Cincinnati, and approximately 50 percent of the student body, they receive only 39 percent of the total athletic scholarship dollars,” Greenberger wrote to Steger. “Female athletes at University of Cincinnati collectively are shortchanged $290,980 each year.”

        While UC acknowledged athletic-related aid to females was 39.2 percent for the 2000-01 academic year, the school said athletic-related aid to females was budgeted at 47.5 percent. The discrepancy was created by

        the fact UC has differing rates for in-state and out-of-state students ($12,136 in-state and $20,413 out-of-state), UC said.

        UC also said its 10 women's sports teams are fully funded at NCAA grant-in-aid limitations at the out-of-state level. The UC men's teams are not fully funded at NCAA levels and are not funded totally at the out-of-state level, the school said. The women's teams are not reaching their grant-in-aid budget, because they are recruiting in-state students whom the coaches feel are deserving of the award, the school said.

        Goin said the charges are “unfair” in that UC actually has taken every measure to reach Title IX compliance. UC produced numbers Wednesday showing that, since Goin arrived in late 1997, athletic participation has been balanced to nearly half. Whereas females made up just 36.1 percent of the UC athletic population in 1997-98, they accounted for 49.8 percent in 2000-01.

        UC has dropped indoor track and men's tennis and added women's rowing since Goin arrived, to reach Title IX guidelines.

        “I think this is politically driven,” Goin said of this week's charges. “They've picked out 30 schools in ... mostly big-city newspaper areas so they can get their message out.”

        Notre Dame was among the biggest names cited by the center. One other Ohio school, Toledo, was named. The widest gap between the average size of scholarships at the 30 schools was $6,545 a year at the University of Miami, where women are 46 percent of the athletes but receive 37 percent of scholarship monies.

        Title IX supporters are worried that President Bush, who campaigned against “strict proportionality,” will want the regulations rewritten.

        “I don't think there's anything to that,” Goin said. “However, this is a missile that's fired that I think is saying, "Let's don't drop our guard on women's sports.'”

        Title IX forbids sex discrimination in all programs at schools that get federal aid, although most of its continuing controversy relates to athletics.

        “The problem is, I'm defending something here that's not an issue in NCAA compliance,” Goin said. “I feel very comfortable that our women's sports are doing very well here.

        “We're not going to change one thing.”

UC disputes Title IX criticism

Mariners 2, Reds 0
Reds Box, Runs
Reds could feast on schedule ahead
Cameron, Boone extend Reds' misery
Fans, media follow Ichiro
Griffey needs more trophy space
Reds Notebook: Kearns sits after 0-for-4
Castillo's streak reaches 33
Yankees 20, Rockies 10
Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 2
Giants 8, Devil Rays 0
Orioles 6, Diamondbacks 1
Padres 3, Red Sox 2
Soccer fans want World Cup here
U.S. soccer looking for acceptance back home
World Cup Notebook: Superpowers face off
World Cup Schedule
Duff feels at home in Women's Met
Women's Met Scores & Pairings
5/3 pro-am moves to Belterra
South Carolina forces decisive game in CWS
Coming up this week