There’s been quite a debate brewing in the last several weeks at a liberal arts school in central Pennsylvania. Dickinson College, an institution with just under 2,000 matriculants according to 2020 data, is in the middle of a controversy surrounding women’s sports and Title IX. A couple of months ago, the school decided to do away with its men and women’s varsity squash team. However, the women’s team in particular was not happy with this development, and retained legal counsel.
In early September, the university president received a letter from the legal team representing Dickinson women’s squash, stating that the school’s elimination of the team violated Title IX. Dickinson College’s demographic breakdown of female to male students is 57% to 43% respectively, which is the basis for the legal ground they had to stand on. Title IX was put into place to give women athletic opportunities that represented a proportionate number of the enrollments of the student body. Eliminating the women’s squash team would give female students one less opportunity to participate in athletics, despite outnumbering their male counterparts.
The co-captain of the squash team was disappointed to see it disbanded.
“The team has gotten a lot stronger over the years,” said Eloise Nimoityn. The roster was made up of a very diverse group of young women, which in part, hailed from New Zealand, Egypt, India, Pakistan and Colombia. Via Dickinsonian.com
Arthur H. Bryant, the lead attorney representing the defunct women’s squash team, did not believe the school had much of a defense considering the population of their student body.
“Title IX is the law…Dickinson doesn’t really have any choice on whether to comply,” he remarked. Via Dicksonian.com
After the back and forth between the school and the legal counsel, Dickinson decided to reverse their decision and reinstate the women’s squash team. They will also create a gender equity plan that better complies with the ideals of Title IX. The athletes are extremely proud of their victory, and excited to get back to playing the sport they love.
Post Edited: Dickinson College Agrees to Reinstate Women's Squash Team, Stop Discriminating Against Female https://t.co/HcqTr6ws93 pic.twitter.com/zmY7tBC20k
— 4StateNews (@4StateNews) October 7, 2021
“I and my teammates are incredibly proud to have held Dickinson accountable, made it reinstate our team, and forced it to achieve gender equality,” Nimoityn expressed. Via Yahoo.com
