OCR Opens Title IX Investigation at Diablo Valley College

From the Diablo Valley College Inquirer:

DVC may have violated Title IX with its plan to shut down several sports programs because of budget cuts, according to complaints filed with the Contra Costa Community College District and the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights.

One of the two complainants, head tennis coach Peter Benko, said Tuesday he had received a message from the OCR saying it was expanding its investigation to Los Medanos and Contra Costa colleges, in addition to DVC.

The Inquirer was unable to reach OCR investigators by its press deadline.

Benko and Daniel Cruz, head track coach, allege the elimination next year of men and women’s track, cross country, and tennis will drop the proportion of females in DVC athletic programs from 39 percent to 38 percent.

In addition, they point out that DVC hasn’t added any women programs in approximately 10 years, and all the women programs in question are popular among the students.

Good to know that OCR is on the case after a school experiences a 1% drop in the number of female athletes on campus. In other places, this would be known as a rounding error, but I guess that’s not the case here.

If a drop so insignificant can trigger an investigation, I’m going to guess that the nation’s colleges and universities are in for a very rough couple of years at the hands of OCR. Hold on tight.