By: Maren Nicolaysen, W*SS Community Engagement Intern
TW: Sexual Assault and Harassment
On September 29th, an independent report titled Gender Equity Review of Michigan State University athletes and athletics found female athletes receive less resources and support than male athletes. Gender inequity at MSU? Disgrace in the athletic department? Who could have imagined.
I learned about this newest MSU sports-related scandal Friday, October 6th, reading The State News article, “Gender equity review shows inadequacies, inequalities in MSU athletics”. Per The State News, “The review found that MSU is not in compliance with Title IX’s requirement that universities provide equitable athletic financial aid. Although 48.9% of MSU’s athletes are women, they received 46.3% of athletic financial assistance. Anything over a 1% disparity is not in compliance with the Title IX standard. MSU has a 2.6% disparity.”
The report underlined poorer quality of facilities, uniforms, academic support, financial aid, as well as food insecurity for athletes on the women’s teams as central issues. Female athletes oftentimes had to pay for food and equipment out of pocket due to deficiencies in what is provided to women’s teams. Male athletes from most teams have access to facilities and professional development opportunities, besides comprehensive financial aid.
Reading this article, I went through a series of emotions that has become common over the last few months.
First I thought, Oh of course. Yet another example of MSU in the news. Not for anything positive, but for issues in our athletic deparment about gender inequity. While the results of this independent review were unsurprising, they matter, and they not only hurt student athletes. These inequities affect a community barely starting to heal from Nassar’s years of abuse, let alone from learning about former MSU head football coach Mel Tucker’s harassment of the educator, advocate, and rape survivor, Brenda Tracy (See MSU Women*s Council’s Official Statement on Mel Tucker on Instagram).
I personally am close with two athletes who play for one of the MSU Women’s Athletic Teams. Besides spending every day training with their teammates, they are students, individuals with social lives, and amazing human beings. Speaking with them over the semester, every athlete on a Women’s Team at MSU has their own anecdotes of their relative lack of funding, resources, and opportunities compared to their counterparts on the Men’s Team. Beyond the financial and resource-related issues outlined by the September report, dynamics within and between the Men’s and Women’s teams need to be taken more seriously by the MSU athletic department. “Boys will be Boys” attitudes are commonly taken by coaches when dealing with relationship conflicts and sexism.
After my initial thoughts rolled in, I appreciated the fact that this review actually took place. While a prior lawsuit forced the University to conduct this review, the report officially outlines where MSU must improve, and clarifies the steps the athletic department should take to remedy its internal inequities. Professor Gabe Feldman, author of the review, stated he and University administrators will “create a Gender Equity Plan (GEP) to address all issues of inequity identified by the gender equity review. The GEP will bring MSU into full Title IX compliance by the end of the 2026-2027 academic year, subject to extensions of time as deemed reasonable by the GERD.” Needless to say, MSU should have had a GEP last century, much less last year. Like so many other efforts, the success of the GEP and establishment of gender equality within MSU Athletics will rely on students continuously pushing the University’s multitude of departments and administrators for equity.
You and I may not be an athlete on an official MSU team. However, both athletes and non-athletes at this school are students, before anything else. All of us deserve to be supported by our peers and school—and it’s on us to advocate for each other.
References
The State News, “Gender equity review shows inadequacies, inequalities in MSU athletics” by Theo Scheer, Published Thursday October 5th, 2023.
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