Antelope Valley Makes Title IX Agreement Plans

The Antelope Valley College athletic program, under investigation since May for alleged violations of Title IX, has agreed to add at least one women’s athletic team and develop plans for an on-campus softball field as part of a voluntary agreement with the U.S. Dept. of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

The college on Tuesday also announced it will appropriate funds more equitably between men’s and women’s athletics and draft a plan to increase participation of female athletes by Nov. 1.

Title IX was adopted in 1972 to ensure gender equity in education, including interscholastic athletics.

“The college will do what it has to do to remain in compliance with the law,” Antelope Valley President Linda M. Spink said. “We’ll make every effort to reach out to potential women athletes to assess their interests and abilities.”

Administrators have yet to decide which sport to add, but women’s soccer is the most likely possibility, college spokesman Steve Standerfer said.

“A lot is going to be happening around here in the next two months,” Standerfer said.

Antelope Valley came under scrutiny after an anonymous complaint in March alleged that the college was “discriminating against female students . . . by denying them an opportunity equal to that afforded male students to participate in intercollegiate athletics.”

Representatives from the Office for Civil Rights responded by visiting the college in May, touring facilities and interviewing administrators and coaches.

Standerfer said the college already was engaged in an in-house study regarding gender equity in its athletics program when the complaint was lodged.

This month, the college submitted a six-page “voluntary resolution plan” to address concerns of the OCR.

Antelope Valley will develop a plan for a softball team by April 1, 1999. The college also announced it will ensure that men and women athletes are provided an equal opportunity to apply for student employment in the athletic department. Moreover, administrators will monitor intercollegiate athletic spending.