Get a recap of the final "town hall" style meeting, download meeting transcripts and read testimony from Geena Davis and Donna Lopiano
Published: November 26, 2002
The last of the four “Town Hall” style meetings of the Department of Education's Title IX Commission convened in San Diego on November 19 and 20. For Title IX proponents, San Diego provided the strongest voice in support of the law. Highlights of the day included an inspirational speech during the public forum session delivered by Geena Davis. Davis, an accomplished archer and firm advocate for Title IX, jokingly offered to take the Commissioners on a “short ride in Thelma and Louise's car” if they thought it was fair and just to limit girls' opportunity to play sports based solely on interest surveys.
As an invited panelist, Women's Sports Foundation Executive Director Donna Lopiano addressed the Commission, urging them to recommend maintaining the law, stricter enforcement, increased education by the Office for Civil Rights regarding prongs two and three, and implementing caps on athletic expenditures. Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith College, suggested that the fundamental problem is poor financial management in big-time football and men's basketball programs. His analytical and solution-based remarks provided other encouraging moments.
The Commission is left with two remaining meetings in Philadelphia on December 3 and 4 and Washington, D.C., on January 29 and 30, to discuss the issue and produce their report due to the Department of Education by February 28, 2003. The general public may observe these final meetings; however there will not be opportunity for public comment.