One reform would have stopped counting "nontraditional" students toward the Title IX quota. These nontraditional students tend to be women returning to school after raising a family and have no interest in playing sports, so mandating more women's sports slots on the basis of their numbers makes no sense.
The other would have stopped counting "walk-on" athletes against the number of men's slots. Walk-ons cost very little money since they don't have scholarships and sometimes just practice with the team. Thanks to the Title IX quota, they are often turned away from team rosters because allowing them on would mean "too many" men's slots.
The Bush administration rejected even these minimal fixes, ensuring the continuation of the absurd Title IX regime. There is already gender equity in NCAA sports, and then some. There are 600 more NCAA women's programs than men's. But Title IX will continue to wantonly slash away at men's programs.
The quota is particularly tough on historically black colleges, where the percentage of the student body that is female is steadily increasing. Wrestling programs have been almost entirely eliminated at these schools. Washington, D.C.'s famous Howard University last summer cut its men's wrestling and baseball programs, and added a women's bowling program.
"We think it was a complete cave-in to gender-quota advocates," says Eric Pearson, chairman of the anti-quota College Sports Council, of the administration's decision. "They didn't even follow one recommendation of their own commission." The Bush administration might be offended at such criticism, if it weren't so occupied with quivering in fear.