The Women’s Law Project filed complaints this week against nine Pennsylvania state universities for failing to provide equal opportunities for female student athletes. The complaints allege that the schools did not provide athletic opportunities for women in proportion to the number of women enrolled at them.
Terry Fromson — managing attorney of the Women’s Law Project, a non-profit legal advocacy group focused on women’s rights — told msnbc that she had not yet received responses to the complaints, but that she expects the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to investigate the complaints and reach the same conclusion she did. “We looked at the data and we don’t think that these universities are meeting their obligations under Title IX,” Fromson said. “We want these universities to acknowledge the interest of providing equality to female students.”
In a letter to the chief counsel of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PSSHE), Fromson wrote, “There is no excuse for the athletic disparities at these PSSHE member universities. Despite the fact that Title IX has obligated them to achieve gender equality for more than four decades, these universities have not undertaken genuine efforts to increase opportunities for or satisfy the athletic interests of their female students. It is time for PSSHE as a whole to undertake appropriate and ongoing measures to effectively and promptly address the inequities in their athletic programs.”
A representative from the PSSHE’s Office of External Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.









