King Gives Schools "A" for Gender Equity
By Melissa Murphy, Associated Press

For Billie Jean King, opportunity means everything. On Tuesday, she honored Purdue, Tennessee Tech, Washington State and SUNY at Buffalo for making gender equity a priority. The four schools were winners of the Women's Sports Foundation's inaugural "Opportunity Awards," created in honor of the 35th anniversary of Title IX.

"We are still underrepresented, but we're getting there," said King, founder of the Women's Sports Foundation. "We know it's invaluable to be in sports."

Each school earned an "A" in a new study entitled "Who's Playing College Sports?" that addresses college sports participation levels from 1995-2005.

Compiled by Dr. John Cheslock of the University of Arizona in conjunction with the Women's Sports Foundation, the report looked at Division I, II, III and all six major college athletic organizations — NCAA, NAIA, NCCAA, NJCAA, COA, NWAAC. The "A" schools had a gap of two points or less in the percentage of female athletes to the female student body. An "F" required a gap of 22 points or more.

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