James Madison University students rallied together Wednesday, Nov. 1 and Thursday, Nov. 2 to protest the JMU Board of Visitors' decision to cut 10 athletic programs.
The first protest occurred on the JMU campus on what is known as the Commons and involved approximately 100 students and parents, according to JMU spokesman Andy Perrine.
Students took their protest a step further Nov. 2 and headed up to Washington, D.C. to rally directly in front of the Department of Education building. The protest was an extension of the "Save Our Sports" campaign that is currently in progress, Perrine said.
During the rally, students sang the JMU fight song and chanted, "Save our sports." Afterward, athletes ran around the building of the Department of Education in JMU apparel and then completed a five-mile run through D.C., JMU sophomore class officer Tara Rife said.
After the rally, JMU's student body president met with the assistant to the Secretary of Education, Rife said.
Both male and female athletes were present, including female athletes whose sports and programs were not being cut.
"Women's sports went as well because they need male counterpart to compete," Rife said. "They feel it's hurting their sport instead of helping them."
Perrine said JMU officials were unsurprised by the protests.
"We knew that this was going to be a very difficult decision and people wouldn't be happy with it," Perrine said.
In order to comply with Title IX federal law, JMU's Board of Visitors made the decision to cut 10 of the 28 athletic programs Sept. 29. Title IX states the school's percentage of men and women who participate in athletics must be proportional to the school's percentage of men and women. JMU's undergraduate population consists of 61 percent female and 39 percent male, yet 50.7 percent of those involved in student athletics are female and 49.3 percent are male.
Seven men's athletic programs will be eliminated: archery, cross country, gymnastics, indoor and outdoor track, swimming and wrestling. Of women's athletic programs, archery, fencing and gymnastics will be eliminated.
Perrine said JMU officials are not disappointed by the protests and rallies.
"On the constructive side, JMU is often cited as having an activist side," Perrine said. "JMU students don't take things lying down, they're not apathetic. The fact that they took their message to Washington makes us proud."
Despite the protests, it seems unlikely that the decision will be reversed.
"The decision was unanimous; they're really isn't anything that changes our compliance with the federal law," Perrine said. "We had to comply with federal law."
Ann Lane, University professor of Studies in Women and Gender, expressed support of Title IX.
"It seems like a sexist assumption to say that the problem is with a law that calls for equality between men and women," Lane said.
Even with the unlikelihood that JMU will reverse its decision, students still seem determined to show that Title IX is harming more than helping.
"Hopefully the rallies against Title IX will help the Department of Education realize that Title IX is an outdated law and rather than giving opportunities for women to compete ... it's actually discriminating against men," Rife said.
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