Relief could only come from the courts on the basis of a civil rights claim.
Lawsuits are what institutions fear most. No school has ever lost federal funding for being non-compliant with Title IX—it has never happened. Title IX wasn’t truly effective until individuals were able to sue for monetary damages, and that is likely to influence some decisions.
I agree that the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) may not pursue investigations. The entire Department of Education is currently under threat of elimination. If that happens, there may not even be anyone to enforce anything. People will still be able to sue. Title lX is a Federal Law. However, that would limit access to those who can afford lawyers.
The real issue is that the cuts could be so deep and widespread that many women’s teams may be eliminated, regardless of what the law says or whether the administration chooses to enforce it. Among the first to go could be the women's teams that were added mainly for Title lX compliance, like a lot of beach volleyball teams.
Women’s teams are cut all the time. However, due to Title IX, they are at less risk of elimination than men’s non-revenue sports. I expect that situation to hold in the immediate future.
Initially, I think institutions will continue to follow the three-part test to avoid possible litigation.
Eventually, though, I predict the three-part test will disappear—either through legislation or as the result of a lawsuit filed by a men's team.
June 27th is the deadline for the parties to file their final briefs.
It's too complicated. I wish it was separate. The athletes can get paid whatever they want and the colleges can focus on academics.
That is how it is in every other country. The United States is an anomaly. There are some intercollegiate sports in other countries. Japan has some (Uchimura was a college gymnast), but it's nothing like the big $ and cultural thing it is in the US.
Men's college gymnastics is going to land on its feet because of GymACT. There is already the infrastructure for something similar to the NCAA. GymACT already has as many teams as the NCAA. If men's NCAA gymnastics goes away, the resources USAG is currently investing in the NCAA will probably go there, along with donor $ that are currently going to NCAA teams.
Quite a few intercollegiate sports exist outside the NCAA. Rodeo, fishing, and separate hockey leagues. These are run by their federations, not the schools. They fund themselves.
