Equality Beyond the Three-Part Test: Exploring and Explaining the Invisibility of Title IX’s Equal Treatment Requirement

It is clear from the proliferation of cases and complaints challenging programmatic disparities in school and college athletic programs that Title IX’s goal of equal treatment has not been fully realized. In this Article the Authors examine why many school officials administer athletic departments in apparent oblivion to Title IX’s equal treatment mandate. Section II provides the history of the Title IX’s equal treatment provisions and their enforcement at the high school and collegiate levels since the 1970s. The Authors also discuss trends in the types of equal treatment violations and the success of both public and private enforcement. In Section III the Authors analyze why the equal treatment mandate remains largely absent from the public discourse about Title IX through a discussion of the political philosophy and climate in the United States, constructions of masculinity, and the role of amateurism in sport. Finally, in Section IV, the Authors offer recommendations to address the relative invisibility of Title IX’s equal treatment mandate with the goal of facilitating greater enforcement of equal treatment provisions and improving the overall (e)quality of athletics.