female athletes

A federal court issued a split ruling in a case that found the University of California at Davis guilty of violating Title IX sports regulations Wednesday.

The dispute came about when university officials cut some sports programs for its female athletes and did not create new opportunities to allow them to stay involved in university athletics.

It may get harder for athletic programs to adhere to the Title IX mandate that athletic representation on campuses mirror student enrollment.

Frank Deford notes that if colleges make cheerleading a sport, they might stave off budget cuts to male-dominated sports programs — but at what cost to other female athletes?