Title IX Kills Oregon Wrestling

Though we missed this last week, we would be remiss not to take a moment to note that an Oregon state judge rejected a law suit filed to force the University of Oregon to retain its men’s wrestling program. Here’s a passage from the blog Save Oregon Wrestling that’s awfully telling:

In a decision dated October 22, 2008, and received today, Judge Lynn E. Ashcroft of the Marion County Circuit Court ruled against Equity in Athletics in Oregon’s efforts to reinstate the University of Oregon wrestling team. Former coach Ron Finley said that “while we are disappointed with the ruling, we will continue to raise money to endow a wrestling program at the University of Oregon.”

Larry Joseph, one of Equity in Athletics in Oregon’s attorneys, expressed surprise that Judge Ashcroft found that the University’s decision was not based on gender. “The athletic director testified that the University would require wrestling to pay for both itself and an offsetting women’s sport as the cost of reinstatement, but did not require the new competitive cheer team to pay for itself, much less an offsetting men’s sport. That seems gender based to me,” he said.

If that sounds like fractured logic, get ready for some more at the high school level, where parental booster clubs that independently raise money to support boys teams will soon be forced to share that money with girls squads in the name of gender equity. Read the text of the ruling here.

Over at Minding the Campus, Charlotte Allen has some additional thoughts.