Debbie Dingell Asks Witness About Efforts To Uphold Title IX And Combat ‘Disparities In Treatment’

11 hours ago

During a House Commerce Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) spoke about universities' compliance with Title IX.

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00:00Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Schakowsky, as those of you know and I'm from Michigan,

00:07college sports are a big deal. I'm committed to ensuring all athletes are treated fairly,

00:13female athletes are protected and supported, and the integrity of college sports is maintained.

00:20As we figure this out, it's well known that women's sports often do not receive the same

00:26support, promotion, recognition, or attention as men's sports programs at schools, in the media,

00:32and elsewhere. So we've got to address this as we're doing all of this. We have to strengthen

00:37Title IX, improve gender equity in NIL, and ensure collective schools and conferences

00:43distribute resources more equitably. In April 2024, the GIA reported that 93% of institutions

00:51with athletic programs failed to meet Title IX participation standards, and data shows female

00:58athletes are short-changed over a billion dollars annually in scholarships. Schools continue to

01:05invest more in promoting men's sports, and the success of revenue programs has enhanced male

01:11athletes NIL and recruiting value. Schools are indicating that they will be giving men's

01:17basketball and football players 90% of the new revenue-sharing payments, up to $20 million a

01:23year for the next decade, and publicly saying these payments don't count against Title IX.

01:31Mr. Whitman, how can thoughtful NIL policy promote women's sports programs and bridge

01:40these disparities in treatment? Thank you, Congresswoman. Title IX has been absolutely

01:49instrumental in the advancement of college athletics. I'd be hard-pressed to find any law

01:55that has had bigger impact on the opportunities for students across this country over the last

02:00five decades than Title IX. And as I mentioned earlier, we're thrilled by the explosion in

02:07interest in women's sports. We've seen a volleyball match that was played in front of

02:1290,000 people at the University of Nebraska. We've seen women's basketball played in a football

02:18stadium at Iowa. We saw a women's basketball national championship game that outdrew the

02:24men's counterpart on national television. We've seen the NCAA now, for the first time, begin to

02:30reward women's basketball performance with the adoption of the Women's Basketball Performance

02:34Fund, a hugely important change that was recently adopted by the national organization. We've seen

02:40some of these changes happening on our own campus at the University of Illinois. We have attendance

02:45and revenue records happening in women's basketball, volleyball. We've made real investments

02:50recently in our soccer program, track and field. Ultimately, as I mentioned earlier, we have an

02:55obligation and are complying with Title IX, and we have every intention of continuing to comply

02:59with Title IX as we move forward. There do continue to be some questions around how Title IX

03:05will apply to these new payments. It has been a question that has needed clarity for some time.

03:11We continue to seek that clarity. I expect that will reveal itself in the months and years ahead.

03:18Every person who sits in my chair understands our federal obligations and will adapt our

03:24policy and our strategy to be in line with whatever clarification we ultimately receive.

03:28Thank you. We really do have to work on this, and I always have Hutch, who's trying to help me

03:33figure it out. In February 2025, the Trump administration rescinded guidance that required

03:40NIL payments in college athletics to be proportionally available to male and female

03:45athletes under Title IX. Ms. Cole, do you think this decision undermines Title IX's goal of

03:51ensuring equal opportunity for women in sports? I am not familiar with this topic and not able to

04:00speak on the question. Okay, thank you. I may ask you to familiarize yourself and get you to answer

04:06for the record. Traditionally, all sponsorship gate receipts, donations, and TV revenue go into

04:12one pot that supports all sports without discriminating on the basis of sex. This

04:18commitment has made the United States a world power in Olympics and a global powerhouse. Mr.

04:24Whitman, I'm coming to you again. Can you tell us what an overhaul of this precedent would mean

04:29for the athletes? I'm sorry, Congresswoman, can you clarify what overhaul of which precedent?

04:37That all the sponsorship gate receipts, donations, and TV revenue go into one pot that supports

04:44all sports without discriminating on the basis of sex. That's made the Olympics a success. I don't

04:51see that changing. Certainly, at the University of Illinois, our intent is for our resources to

04:57continue to support all of our student-athletes. And we do believe under the House settlement,

05:02we'll be in a position to offer additional benefits to every student-athlete in our

05:06program, whether those benefits take the form of additional scholarships, potential NIL payments,

05:12or some of the additional benefits that are now made available by virtue of the House

05:16settlement. Our intention is to continue to invest heavily in the experience of every student-athlete

05:21who wears the orange and blue, and we think the House settlement provides us an even greater

05:25tool set to approach that opportunity. Thank you. The gentleman, gentlelady's time has expired.

Debbie Dingell Asks Witness About Efforts To Uphold Title IX And Combat ‘Disparities In Treatment’

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