Harper Defends Title IX; Plagiarism in the Daily D

Athletics Director Josie Harper dismissed as mere politics the Department of Education’s recent decision to reduce paperwork for compliance with rules on parity between men’s and women’s sports. Harper told the Daily Dartmouth that the DoE’s decision that an online survey could be “an acceptable method to measure students’ interests in participating in sports” was a way for anti-Title IX politicians to “skirt the real issues.”

In effect, Harper is arguing for more government control and for less spending discretion by private school athletic directors in the name of “non-discrimination.” “She may be a champion of women’s sports,” an alumnus noted, “but doesn’t her institutional obligation to Dartmouth as [athletic director] come ahead of her personal views?”

Interestingly, the portion of the DoE’s “letter of clarification” the Daily D quoted is not from the government letter at all. The twice-weekly “daily” wrote,

This “letter of clarification” stated that, “a college or university could be deemed in compliance with Title IX if a survey is e-mailed to current students to determine if their interests and abilities are being met.” A non-response is considered a lack of interest.

This is how Women’s eNews paraphrased the letter:

The Department called it a “letter of clarification.” It said that a college or university could be deemed in compliance with Title IX if the new survey is e-mailed to current students to determine if their interests and abilities are being met. A non-response is considered a lack of interest.

Then there’s this passage further down in the Daily D‘s writeup:

In the pre-Title IX era, female athletes seldom received athletic scholarships in college. There were few full-time coaches for female athletic teams and meager funds were available for uniforms, transportation and equipment. The implementation of Title IX in 1972 paved the way for future female athletes on the college level by mandating that schools receiving federal funding must provide equal opportunities for both females and males.

And from Women’s eNews:

Before the passage of Title IX, female athletes rarely received college athletic scholarships. There were almost no full-time coaches for female teams. Funds were scarce for uniforms, equipment and transportation, and girls grew up knowing their options to compete in sports were limited.

Oddly similar, no?

The campus newspaper comes out just twice a week over the summer, but their only sports story is a plagiarized article about a three-month-old rule change.