Gordon Addresses Title IX and Football

At the Associated Students Inc's Pizza with the Presidents event on Wednesday, Cal State Fullerton President Milton Gordon and Vice President of Student Affairs Robert L. Palmer briefly addressed a student's question from the audience about how Title IX affected intercollegiate athletics.

"We certainly take gender equity very seriously," Palmer said. "It's never far from my mind. We do a pretty good job here."

Title IX was enacted in 1972 as a program that is supposed to generate equal participation between men and women athletes.

At times, Title IX is blamed as the reason for certain men's collegiate sports programs being cut, such as the football team at CSUF for example.

Gordon refuted the fact and said that Title IX was not a factor in the football team being disbanded at CSUF.

Gordon said it wasn't about gender equity, but more of an issue about a football program at CSUF lagging behind with many good collegiate football teams in Southern California.

Gordon said that there are much more relevant issues, when it comes to many of the sports that have come, then are gone and that ultimately have difficulties in surviving in a university situation, than just putting the blame on the Title IX amendment.

"We were having attendance of two or three thousand on a particular game," said Gordon about the eventual demise of football at CSUF.

Gordon said that the lack of attendance at CSUF football games was probably the most important factor in gauging whether or not having a football team was viable.

"I would love to have a football program, but it would have to be successful," Gordon said. "I gave it an opportunity for something like three years and I said 'you know, if we could make a program that works, fine - if we can't, it's got to go.'"

Gordon said that the opportunity for success just never happened for the CSUF football team, which played its last season in 1992.

"Two years after dropping football, we won a baseball national championship," Gordon said. "It takes money away from the other sports, but Title IX is well treated on this campus."