The NCAA's most recent gender equity study released
yesterday shows that "more women are participating in
intercollegiate athletics and more women are receiving
athletic scholarships with parity projected in six years,"
according to Lena Williams of the N.Y. TIMES, who notes that
the number of women participating in Div. I-A athletics has
"increased by an average" of 28 per school, compared to 15
for male athletes since '97. The report found that 40% of
all Div. I-A women athletes received 41% of athletic
"scholarship dollars" at Div. I-A schools. NCAA President
Cedric Dempsey, who "pointed out" that Div. I-A schools
"spent an average" of $172,000 on men's recruiting and
$72,000 for women: "That's just not good enough" (N.Y.
TIMES, 10/26). In Indianapolis, Sean Horgan reports that
the 40% female athlete figure is an "increase" of 9% from
'92. Dempsey, who said that the "pace and extent of the
progress still leaves much to be desired": "We have to
dedicate more resources to women's programs at a faster
rate. Clearly, we have to do a better job of attracting
women to sports programs" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR-NEWS, 10/26).