News:

Bauer Signs Petition To Abolish Title IX Gender Quota

[December 29, 1999]

IA-On December 29, 1999 in Newton, Iowa Gary Bauer, candidate for Republican nomination for President of the United States, singed a petition indicating that if elected he would abolish the gender quota part of Title IX. Bauer joins two other candidates to date, Steve Forbes and Alan Keyes, as signers of the petition. Mr. Bauer read the petition and then while signing it indicated to Eric LeSher, President of Iowans Against Quotas, the group circulating the petition that, this (the petition) is an easy thing to sign, I am against quotas like this. The petition reads as follows: "We, the undersigned citizens of the state of Iowa, applaud the intent of Title IX and agree that athletic opportunity is important to both male and female athletes. We however, disagree with the interpretation of Title IX by the Department of Education. The Education Department has created three ways for a school to avoid discrimination under Title IX. One of these ways, proportionality (preferences), is a quota that operates only to destroy opportunities for males. The other two ways to comply with Title IX require that the school increase female opportunities. The first of these rules requires that the school have a history and continuing practice of increasing opportunity for females. The second requires that the school accommodate the athletic interests of all of the female athletes at the school. We fully support both of these rules increasing female participation. Presently for every female added under the above rules, four or five male athletes are being dropped. If the present trend continues, many sports programs for men at the college level will soon be extinct. We believe therefore that the gender preferences and quotas must be abolished. We urge all presidential and congressional candidates to state their agreement with the above principles and ask that they state their solemn intention to abolish proportionality after they are elected." Iowans Against Quotas (IAQ) is a grassroots organization of concerned citizens battling to save Olympic sports in our colleges across the nation. According to LeSher, "IAQ is not against Title IX and the good things it has accomplished. IAQ is in favor of opportunities for both sexes on the athletic fields. The problem is the bureaucrats at the Department of Education. They feel quotas must be filled to create equal numbers. This is in direct conflict with the language and intent of the original law. IAQ has developed a web site www.IAQ2000.org for those who want more information on the issue.