Slippery Rock to reinstate two women’s sports
SLIPPERY ROCK (AP) – Slippery Rock University will reinstate women’s swimming and water polo following a federal judge’s ruling that eliminating the sports did not comply with a federal law requiring equal opportunities for female athletes. University President Robert Smith announced Friday that the school, about 45 miles north of Pittsburgh, will reinstate the sports for the 2006-07 academic year. The schedules for both will closely resemble the 2005-06 schedule, the university said.
The university announced in January it was cutting eight sports – including women’s field hockey, water polo and swimming – to save $350,000 as part of an effort to erase a $2 million budget shortfall. The school later reinstated field hockey, but members of the women’s swimming and water polo teams challenged the cuts in a federal lawsuit.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Donetta Ambrose said Smith was wrong not to consider compliance with Title IX, a law requiring schools that receive federal money to provide equal sports opportunities for men and women.
The university also cut men’s swimming, water polo, golf, wrestling and tennis after the school year ended. Officials argued in court that they tried to be fair in deciding which sports to cut.