A 6-month-old federal gender discrimination investigation of University of Minnesota athletics sprang to life on school grounds this week, as U.S. Department of Education representatives combed the campus, interviewed Gophers coaches and measured square footage in locker rooms and offices.
They are here to examine whether Gophers athletics discriminates against women, a claim raised in a 2014 formal complaint to the Office of Civil Rights. Donors, former university employees and some women's sports advocates echoed similar accusations to the Star Tribune, saying the athletics department has lost its focus on gender equity and is violating the spirit of Title IX, the 43-year-old law that bans sex discrimination in any federally supported school.
The anonymous complaint, recently obtained by the Star Tribune, said Gophers women's sports have become an afterthought — a dozen teams with dwindling rosters receiving an inexcusably low percentage of spending. The issue reached a crescendo when university leaders drafted their ambitious $190 million plan to build new practice and training centers with a heavy focus on high-profile men's teams.
University President Eric Kaler and athletic director Norwood Teague denied any bias and said the school has not wavered on fairness.
While "no one is eager to have an OCR investigation," Kaler said, the university welcomes scrutiny. "And to the degree that we need to make improvements, we'll make them," he added.
Kaler said he believes "there is a small group that is not convinced that we're doing the right thing or that [Teague] is doing the right thing."
Said Teague, "Title IX and gender equity is a discretion component on every decision we make."
As a member of the university's Department of Athletics Leadership Council, Deborah Olson is privy to the department's decisionmaking. She said the priorities are obvious.