The University of Vermont is dropping baseball and softball. Meanwhile, the University of Hawaii is considering cutting a sport (probably men’s swimming and diving, baseball, men’s tennis or men’s volleyball) due to budget concerns. Myles Brand would have you believe that Title IX was not a factor in the decisions, but that is extremely misleading. As we’ve pointed out time and again here on Inkwell, Title IX guides program decisions — both additions and cuts. Our friends over at Saving Sports show how that dynamic is at play in Hawaii:
Currently, UH has eleven sports for women and seven sports for men. But despite that disparity, athletic director Jim Donovan says the only teams that can be cut are the men’s sports. Why is that? You guessed it — because of Title IX. “UH can’t drop a women’s sport until it comes into compliance with Title IX,” the Honolulu Advertiser reports matter-of-factly.