The future of Title IX and its outcomes under the Trump administration took a spotlight on Wednesday, Feb. 26, as the sports communication department held a panel discussion on the topic.
The event, part of the Home & Home Speaker Series, gathered an audience at Edwards Auditorium ranging from athletic staff to students. Molly Yanity, director of the sports communication department, opened the event by emphasizing the urgency of the discussion.
“I want students to understand how important that piece of legislation is,” Yanity said.
Many universities are not handling Title IX with care, according to Becky Carlson, a speaker at this event and the head coach of women’s rugby at Quinnipiac University.
“We’ve had many opportunities to stand up for women’s sports, but this issue is being pushed to the front because of fear,” Carlson said. “For an administration to change Title IX, they have to actually care about it.”
Title IX, passed in 1972 by former President Richard M. Nixon, prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs and athletics, according to the United States Court Website. The Biden administration released a fact sheet outlining the protections for transgender athletes, but the Trump administration rescinded it on Feb. 12, leaving many policies inconsistent.
Another speaker, Felice Duffy, an attorney who solely focuses on Title IX cases, started her focus at the University of Connecticut and filed a lawsuit that compelled the university to create a women’s soccer team.
“Title IX is the only law that separates people based on sex — the discussion about keeping ‘men’ out of women’s sports oversimplifies a complex issue,” Duffy said.
Title IX isn’t without its loopholes, according to Carlson.
“Many athletic directors act as though they are really bummed when they have to settle Title IX cases, but the reality is schools have been working around it since 1972,” Carlson said.
The panel also addressed the Trump administration’s efforts to ban transgender women from competing in women’s sports. Under Trump’s executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” transgender women will no longer be permitted to play in the NCAA. Panelist Katie Barnes, an award winning journalist for ESPN, criticized the rhetoric used to justify the ban.
“Testing for XX chromosomes is an extra level of discrimination — they never cared about women’s sports before,” Barnes said. “Why do they care about them now? It’s an act of fear.”
There is a lot of public confusion over these policies regarding who this policy actually affects, according to Carlson.
“People don’t understand how it affects them personally or how they fit into this broader debate,” Carlson said.
Despite ongoing debates and political shifts, guest speakers remained optimistic about the rise of women’s sports.
“The explosion of women’s sports right now is because female athletes had to fight for it,” Duffy said. “They sacrificed more.”
The discussion wrapped up with a call for continued advocacy and awareness.
Women’s sports has seen a rise in popularity, with 54 million viewers in 2024 recording the highest amount in 22 years, according to Togetherxr.com. According to the WNBA website, views are expected to see more increase with the upcoming NCAA women’s basketball tournament, starting with the bracket reveal on March 16, and the conversation around Title IX will continue.
