TO THE EDITOR:
In his Apr. 14 column, “Title IX and the baseball dilemma,” Sam Ellis unwittingly provides a compelling example of why Title IX is so necessary to maintain equality of opportunity for male and female athletes.
Ellis’ specific concern is for the UNC baseball team. He worries that the football and men’s basketball programs take up so many of the allocated men’s athletic scholarships that there are not enough left for baseball players, and that if only those pesky federal restrictions mandating gender-equitable spending were removed, the University could attract better baseball players, increase revenue and have more money to spend on (theoretically) women’s sports.
It’s a somewhat peculiar solution — taking scholarships from female athletes in hopes that (hypothetically) greater revenue brought in by a (potentially) more successful male sport will one day trickle down the athletic department to restore funding it sapped out of women’s sports in the first place.
Thanks to Title IX, we have a legal as well as moral obligation to provide equal opportunities for the male and female Tar Heels who do us proud every season.
Tracey Barrett
Junior
History