Tuesday, August 12, 2014

The answer to Monday's question is...

...no one.
Well maybe the Department of Defense.
Though I knew that military academies were Title IX-exempt, I believed that, like religious institutions, exemptions were based on the mission of the institution. In other words, when Title IX first passed and military academies were single-sex institutions, the argument was that there was a compelling military interest for keeping them that way.
But exempt for military academies is complete exemption. Go to the websites and try to find a Title IX coordinator. There isn't one.
Go to the Equity in Athletics Data Analysis Cutting Tool and enter the Air Force Academy or Coast Guard Academy to find the breakdown of male-female athletes, spending on sports, revenues, etc. There is nothing.
I do not see a compelling military or national interest for exemptions from all aspects of Title IX.
And when it comes to campus sexual assault, I feel similarly. Though, as I told Inside Higher Ed, it is possible that the military sanctions against sexual assault are even more severe, the lack of transparency and the lack of oversight are problematic at a time when the federal government has committed itself to greater transparency on this issue and asking for funding to increase the number of staff to do investigations. The military's record on sexual assault is abysmal and the cover-ups of both large-scale scandals individual cases inspires little faith that there can be change without more public oversight.