The Butler athletics department is still waiting to hear whether it is compliant with Title IX.

Title IX is legislation that is meant to ensure equal opportunity in athletics for women.

Last May, the university entered into a resolution agreement with the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education to become Title IX compliant.

Butler had a Sept. 1 deadline to provide documentation that it was in compliance and treating all athletes equally.

Beth Goetz, associate athletic director for administration, said the report has been submitted, and the athletics department is now waiting for a decision from the Office for Civil Rights.

“We believe that we are in compliance,” Goetz said. “But if they find we aren’t, we are going to take the necessary steps to correct it.”

The Office for Civil Rights considers the situation an open case with the documents still in review. As a result, the office cannot discuss the specifics of the case or any findings to this point, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Education.

The Office for Civil Rights requested information about participation numbers and financial aid.

During the 2010-11 school year, women made up 59.6 percent of Butler’s full-time undergraduate students and only 36.5 percent of athletes.

At the same time, women athletes received 53.4 percent of the department’s financial aid.

Title IX requires that the ratio of women in sports is substantially proportionate to the undergraduate enrollment.

In a situation where these numbers are not proportionate, the university can demonstrate compliance in other ways.

“Those numbers demonstrate we are not meeting the standard,” Goetz said. “But we believe our non-discriminatory factors, when considered, deem us as compliant.”

The athletics department evaluates gender equality on a regular basis. Multiple internal reviews and an outside study by Ice Miller have been conducted to validate the findings.

“We believe we offer every sport in which there is an interest and ability on campus,” Goetz said.

She said that this is the reason the department believes the Office for Civil Rights will determine that Butler is Title IX compliant.

Regardless of the numbers, Erik Fromm, junior men’s basketball player and member of the student athlete advisory council, said that the treatment of the athletes has always been equal.

“I’m just one person, and I don’t know all the numbers,” Fromm said, “but it’s never been a question of equality, not in athletics and not in academics.”

In her four years of experience, Devin Brierly, graduate student and basketball and softball player, said there was no indication of unfair treatment between males and females because of gender.

“We have always been treated very fair when it came to everything, whether it was trips and equipment or something else,” Brierly said. “It was going to be different with men’s basketball, but that’s because of what they accomplished, not anything else.”

In the 2011 fiscal year, the Office for Civil Rights received a total of 7,841 complaints about Title IX violations across the country, according to a U.S. Department of Education spokesman.

Only six of those complaints found an institution to be in violation of Title IX.

The athletics department asked why it was under review, and Goetz said it was told it was random review.

The Office for Civil Rights confirmed this and said it is trying to be proactive in guaranteeing equality for all athletes by initiating compliance reviews.

There is no official timeline for a decision from the Office for Civil Rights regarding Butler’s compliance, but Goetz said the department will continue to take the matter seriously.

“We want to provide every opportunity for every student-athlete that we can,” Goetz said. “Even without Title IX, we want to make sure everyone is treated equally and fairly.”

Sexual misconduct incidents now must be investigated with or without the involvement of a victim, per new policy changes at a national and university level.
The 2012-13 edition of the Butler University student handbook contains updates due to new obligations from the U.S. Department of Education released in April.
The harassment and sexual misconduct parts of the “Rights and Responsibilities” section now have clearer definitions of what those acts involve, as well as how the university should handle them.
Sally Click, dean of student services, worked with the student affairs department over the summer to train and learn how to update these sections under the new regulations.
“We’ve got to think about this differently,” Click said.
Click said the major change came with how the university will handle violations dealing with gender and sex.
These regulations spur from the “Dear Colleague” letter released from the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Education.
The department issued the letter to remind schools of their responsibilities after finding that universities all over the country are not able to address issues of sexual assault and uphold the provisions of Title IX, a law passed in 1972 to remedy gender discrimination.
The letter indicated universities need to treat sexual assault more like a civil rights violation, not a code of conduct issue, Click said.
The result is that instead of a student conduct hearing, there will first be a preliminary investigation and then, potentially, an administrative review.
“The ‘Dear Colleague’ letter made it clear that we can not go on with business as usual,” Vice President for Student Affairs Levester Johnson said. “We can’t just rely on the Butler Way.”
Click said in the past, the investigation of sexual misconduct was “victim-centered.” Student affairs let the victim decide how far and how fast to investigate.
Now, if the office becomes aware of an issue, a minimal investigation is required with or without the victim’s involvement.
If it is determined that a code of conduct was violated, the investigation will move to an administrative review, where either Click or Irene Stevens, dean of student life, will question the accused person, any witnesses and the victim.
In the past, the accused person was allowed to question the victim. The new requirements do not allow that to happen.
Click and Stevens will act as “fact finders” and make the ultimate decision if it was “more likely than not” the offense happened.
If the facts are inconclusive, the case will be dismissed, Click said.
If it is determined that a sexual misconduct guideline has been violated, the alleged offender has the right to appeal. But if found guilty, sanctions including suspension and dismissal from the university can be imposed. Alleged offenders may also be prosecuted under local or federal law.
Along with an administrative review, allegations of sexual misconduct are reportable under the Clery Act, a law that requires universities to keep records of crime statistics.
All reported incidents of sexual assault will be investigated in coordination with the Office of Student Affairs, said Ben Hunter, chief of staff and executive director of public safety.
Click said she thinks if more people know an investigation might take off in a way a student is not comfortable with, the new process may work against the desire to address sexual misconduct situations.
“We’re really trying to balance what we need to do to be compliant, what we need to do to support our students and how we help everybody involved in a situation,” Click said.
Students can keep themselves and their friends safe by reading the updated handbook and knowing their rights before a situation happens, Johnson said.
“We all need to step up our game as far as knowing what those rules, policies and compliance issues are,” Johnson said. “If you see something, you need to tell someone.”

In 2007 men’s lacrosse was discontinued as an NCAA Division I athletic program at Butler.

But in response, a few players from that team created a men’s lacrosse club team at the school shortly after.

Photo by Marcy Thornsberry

Josh Phelps, junior team vice president, said the popularity of lacrosse is on the rise all across the nation.

“The sport is more popular on the East Coast than most places, but that is spreading all over Indiana,” Phelps said.

Butler’s team originally played at the D-I level from 1993 until the program was cut in 2007.

Initially the players on the club team coached themselves, but the school now employs head coach Kyle Mates.

Mates grew up in Indianapolis and played high school lacrosse at Cathedral High School.

Mates played college lacrosse at Bellarmine and Trine. He also played semi-professionally in Ontario, Canada, for two years.

“I got the job at BU when my men’s club team scrimmaged Butler, and they showed interest,” Mates said. “I grew up watching Butler sports, so I felt it was a great fit for me.”

The Bulldogs compete in the Central Division of the Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association. The CCLA is a division of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association, which is a premiere national club lacrosse program.

This is the team’s second year in the CCLA.

Schools that compete within the CCLA Central Division include Indiana Tech, Oakland, Taylor and Michigan-Dearborn.

Butler is 2-2 in the division and 4-7 overall this season.

The Bulldogs also play teams from the surrounding area that are a part of the MCLA.

Phelps said that the Butler men’s lacrosse program was cut along with the men’s swimming program because of Title IX.

Title IX is a federal law that protects equal opportunities for women to participate in sports and extracurricular activities.

The team lived on as a club to continue to provide a competitive opportunity for Butler students.

Phelps said he never played lacrosse until he came to college but joined the club for the competitive edge.

“I wanted to continue playing competitive sports but not at the D-I level,” Phelps said.

Phelps said he believes the popularity of lacrosse at Butler has increased because it is an fast-paced contact sport, and sporting fans are intrigued by it.

“We’ve had a better turnout this spring than we did in the fall,” freshman attacker Andrew Taschler said.

Taschler has played lacrosse for eight years and said he has seen it go from non-existent to a sport with rising popularity in Indiana.

“Attendance has been better recently because we’re playing in the Butler Bowl,” Phelps said. “There aren’t many diehard Bulldogs fans, but there have been more Butler students at home games than most other teams we’ve played in the MCLA.”

Butler dropped two games over the weekend at home against Oakland and John Carroll.

The game against the Golden Grizzlies of Oakland ended in a 10-9 sudden-death overtime loss for the Bulldogs.

“As a team, we are having a successful season and are currently tied for second in our division,” Mates said.

The top two teams in each division make the playoffs, and Butler’s playoff hopes are on the line this weekend.

The Bulldogs have two more games this weekend to finish up their regular season.

They will head to Michigan to face Calvin and Northwood.

Butler University is facing pressure and a potential investigation from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

The OCR is “conducting a Title IX compliance review at Butler University,” said Jim Bradshaw, a member of the Department of Education’s press office.

Title IX is a federal law that requires schools at all levels across the country to offer girls and women equal access to athletics.

“[The review will] determine whether the university discriminates against female students by denying them an equal opportunity to participate in intercollegiate athletics,” Bradshaw said.

Bradshaw said the review also will determine whether the university discriminates against male or female students by not awarding scholarships or grants in proportion to the number of students participating in intercollegiate athletics.

Jim McGrath, Butler’s associate athletic director and sports information director, said the Department of Education and OCR are “just doing their due diligence.”

Butler Athletic Director Barry Collier could not be reached for comment.

Louisiana State also is under Title IX review by the OCR.