Legal

2 Pages 488 Words

Kelley v. Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Kelley v. Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois is a court case pertaining to the cut of the men’s swim team at the University of Illinois in regards to Title IX. Some men on the swim team felt that by their team being cut and not the women’s swim team also being cut that it was a violation of Title IX. Those men then took legal actions against the University.
Female participation at the University of Illinois has always been disproportionate to the female undergraduate enrollment. So, when the school was faced with a $600,000 athletic budget deficit the school decided to cut some sports programs. The school cut four teams- men’s swimming, men’s fencing, and men’s and women’s diving. While the University’s decision to cut athletic programs was motivated by budget considerations, other considerations- including the need to comply with Title IX- influenced the selection of particular programs to be terminated.
The men on the swim team argued that “if a university is required by Title IX to eliminate men from varsity competition…, then the same Title IX should require the university to eliminate women from the academic departments where they are over-represented and men from departments where they have been over-represented. Such a result would be ridiculous.” The plaintiffs believe that the substantial proportionality test contained in the agency’s policy interpretation of that regulation establishes a gender-based quota system.
The plaintiffs also argued that the university’s decision to eliminate the men’s swimming program while retaining the women’s program denied them equal protection of the law as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Plaintiffs contend that the applicable rules allow “the University to… improve its statistics without adding any opportunities for women…,” an outcome they suggest is unconstitut...