DVC may have violated Title IX with its plan to shut down several sports programs because of budget cuts, according to complaints filed with the Contra Costa Community College District and the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights.
One of the two complainants, head tennis coach Peter Benko, said Tuesday he had received a message from the OCR saying it was expanding its investigation to Los Medanos and Contra Costa colleges, in addition to DVC.
The Inquirer was unable to reach OCR investigators by its press deadline.
Benko and Daniel Cruz, head track coach, allege the elimination next year of men and women’s track, cross country, and tennis will drop the proportion of females in DVC athletic programs from 39 percent to 38 percent.
In addition, they point out that DVC hasn’t added any women programs in approximately 10 years, and all the women programs in question are popular among the students.
An institution’s compliance with Title IX depends on a three-part test, only one of which must be satisfied, according to Valerie Bonnette, president of Good Sports, Inc., a Title IX consulting firm the college district sought advice from.
The three tests are: 1) whether an institution moves towards or away from a more balanced gender-ratio; 2) whether it has shown a history and continuing practice of program expansion for the under-represented gender; and 3) whether it accommodates the interests and abilities of the under-represented gender.
Bonnette declined to comment on the complaints, saying company policy would not allow her to reveal whether she was involved in investigating the grievance against the college district.
In their complaint, Cruz and Benko argue that the cutting the sports programs in question would push DVC out of compliance on all three parts of the test.
Benko said filing both a grievance with the district and a complaint with the OCR ensures a better chance of reaching a fair result.
“The district can find out whatever they like, but the OCR is a separate investigation,” Benko said. “And they may come to the same findings as the district’s own investigation, but it’ll be done by a separate independent investigation.”
Associate Vice Chancellor Gene Huff said he was surprised by the complaint.
“Obviously the district believed that when we eliminated the programs we were not violating Title IX, or we certainly wouldn’t have done that,” he said. “But we’re taking the allegation seriously and making sure we’re in compliance.”
Huff said the district’s own attorney was investigating the complaint, along with Christine Worsley, DVC’s dean of athletics, and Donna Floyd, DVC’s interim vice president of student services.
Worsley could not be reached for comment on whether the college did a Title IX analysis prior to making the cut, but in an April 30 Contra Costa Times story, she was quoted as saying the programs with the least number of athletes were the ones chosen for elimination.
Contact Scott Baba at [email protected]
