We think that the investigation against the school on the basis of a Title IX violation is a waste of time. We don’t see how the university could possibly be at fault for the low amount of female participation in sports.
If more female students want to get involved with athletic activities, then they have the opportunity to do that. With the exception of football, which is only offered for men, and the exception of field hockey and volleyball, which are only offered for women, every other sport is offered for both women and men. Additionally, there are 12 total varsity women’s sports on campus compared to 11 varsity men’s sports.
Participation in sports is not about forcing people to do so. If more women wish to participate in sports, they can do so. Moreover, Denison does a really good job recruiting women for their teams, and they do a good job filling the roster for both the women and men’s sports teams.
As a result of Denison’s recruiting for women’s teams, their teams usually do better than the men’s teams. For example, the women’s track and field team places second at conference this weekend and the men’s placed seventh.
Even though the women’s teams as a whole may have fewer people actually participating, they still end up doing a lot better, and we’d take quality over quantity any day.
*Unsigned editorials represent the majority view of the editorial board, consisting of the Editor-in- Chief, section editors and assistants.