Sept. 18, 2007
By George Mauzy
The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has determined that Ohio University did not discriminate against men when it reduced the number of men's intercollegiate sports programs at the beginning of the year.
The OCR ruling was in response to a March 13 complaint contending that when Ohio University discontinued men's swimming and diving and men's indoor and outdoor track and field, it violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The federal law prohibits sex discrimination in programs and activities that receive Department of Education funding.
In a letter informing the university that the case would be closed, Donald S. Yarab, team leader of OCR's Cleveland office, wrote, "There is insufficient evidence to conclude that the University violated Title IX as alleged."
"I am pleased with this decision by the Office of Civil Rights," said Ohio University Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt. "As I said in January, we will accept nothing short of providing all of our student-athletes with a positive environment to achieve their academic and athletic goals. We made the tough decision to reduce the number of sports in order to help balance our budget, improve Title IX compliance and focus limited resources on improving the quality of the experience for all student-athletes."
The Office of Civil Rights announced its decision in a Sept. 7 letter to Ohio University President Roderick J. McDavis.
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