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Gender Equity in UC Davis Athletics
Statement of Director of Athletics Greg Warzecka
Informational Hearing
Senate Select Committee on Gender Discrimination
and Title IX Implementation
11 a.m. Friday, August 24, 2007
UC Berkeley, Clark Kerr Campus
Bldg. 14, Joseph Wood Krutch Theatre
Director of Athletics Greg Warzecka's prepared remarks:
Greg Warzecka
I also welcome the hearing and appreciate the attention given to Title lX.
As Chancellor Vanderhoef has emphasized, we treat Title IX compliance very seriously at UC Davis and are very open to providing data about how we are complying.
We have developed policies, procedures, planning tools and oversight mechanisms to foster our commitment. We have included gender equity in both our departmental strategic plan and in a specific gender equity strategic plan that we rely upon, and have incorporated it fully within departmental administrative, educational and coaching expectations.
We are continually trying to improve our compliance efforts and welcome the input of our larger community in our efforts to give women the very best access to intercollegiate athletics competition possible.
The Chancellor has also mentioned our Title IX Work Group, as our oversight and review body. Let me provide some details. UC Davis regularly convenes our broadly constituted "Title IX Work Group," which includes faculty members, students and staff. The group reviews the gender equity strategic plan and our efforts to meets its multi-year goals, as well as comparative statistical data on all the measures of Title IX compliance, student interest surveys, and NCAA reports and best practice documentation. It also tracks the progress of NCAA emerging sports.
On an annual basis, the Title IX Officer provides specific training to all coaches, members of the athletics department, the Title IX Work Group, and to the Coaches Advisory Committee. The Title IX Officer also trains and advises athletics department personnel by reviewing national cases and answering questions. Within my role as director, I also provide current information to the coaching and administrative staffs on a regular basis.
According to the NCAA, UC Davis sponsors one of the largest women's athletics programs in the nation in Division I, II or III. Our overall program is very broad-based, currently including 14 women's and 12 men's sports. Over the past 10 years, we have expanded participation opportunities by adding five women's teams and one men's team. These include:
women's crew, women's water polo, and women's lacrosse in 1996-1997;
women's and men's indoor track in 1999-2000; and
women's golf during the 2004-06 timeframe.
In adding these sports, we have used a prescribed process, with specific criteria identified to help evaluate the potential for the elevation of sport club programs to varsity status. We continue to use this process, along with interest surveys and other measures to help us plan for the potential transition of sports from one status to another.
As you may know, our university has recently completed its four-year transition from NCAA Division II to Division I. As part of that process, we underwent a rigorous self-study and external NCAA review, peer-based site visit, and certification process. Gender equity was an integral element of that process, as were such other areas as academic integrity, governance, and student athlete welfare. Just this past July, the NCAA completed its review, including our approach to equity, and fully certified our institution, without any conditions or areas of improvement identified.
Of additional interest to your committee, Senator, are the NCAA and Department of Education reports, submitted by our campus annually, that provide details about our programs at UC Davis. These reports include comparative statistics, expenditure reports and other information that highlight the program at UC Davis. All of these documents are available to the committee.
Some of the recent data that will be included in our 2006-07 reports indicate that:
In total athletic grant-in-aid expenditures, 51% was awarded to women;
In total numbers of athletic participants, 51% were women;
And that the number of female student-athletes, when compared to the number of full-time undergraduate female students enrolled at UC Davis, is within 4.65%.
UC Davis has also earned a reputation of athletic and academic distinction for women. Sports Illustrated for Women named Davis the best Division II school for women athletes for two consecutive years. We have also produced three NCAA Woman of the Year award winners within a six-year span. Our recipients, Jamila Demby, Tanisha Silas and Kelly Albin, were recognized as the best female student-athletes in the country based on academic excellence, athletic achievement, community service and leadership.
Clearly, our record of participation opportunities for women, athletics aid distribution, number of sports offered, and overall equity speaks well for the program. In fact, it was recognized by preeminent Title IX expert Dr. Christine Grant, who has agreed to testify on behalf of UC Davis in the Mansourian wrestling case – the first time she will testify on behalf of a university rather than the plaintiffs in such a case.
Thank you, Senator, for the opportunity to present some details about UC Davis' athletics program.
Last updated August 23, 2007