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CU Title IX adviser: Women angry about campus climate

By Lisa Ryckman, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published April 4, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Nancy Hogshead-Makar

Photo by Barry Gutierrez / The Rocky

Nancy Hogshead-Makar

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Nancy Hogshead-Makar has been at the University of Colorado for just two days, but she already knows that the women there are fuming.

"The overall message is, they're angry about the climate for women on campus," Hogshead-Makar said Thursday. "I told them that anger has long been utilized to marginalize women's complaints."

Her advice: "No. 1 is, don't lose it. No. 2, don't let that stop you from sticking with it and staying in the system."

Hogshead-Makar knows how to work the system. CU's new Title IX adviser is an asthmatic, a rape victim, an Olympic swimming champion, a lawyer and an expert on gender equity.

Hogshead-Makar, who teaches law in Florida, plans to consult with CU on ways to make the school a safe and welcoming place for women. She's also doing that at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Part of settlement

Her CU appointment was part of the settlement in the case of Lisa Simpson, who said she was raped by football players and recruits during a night of heavy drinking in 2001.

Hogshead-Makar was a sophomore at Duke University when she was grabbed while running near campus. The fact that her attacker was a stranger made a difference that it shouldn't have, she said: Authorities believed her and treated her with respect.

"The first question everyone asks when they find out I was raped is, 'Did you know him?' What they're really asking is, 'Were you really raped?' " Hogshead-Makar said. "That's how I know that people like Lisa Simpson, who know their attackers or had some contact with them, have it really hard."

Hogshead-Makar grew up in Gainesville, Fla., where she became a swimming star, despite suffering from asthma attacks that could be induced by exercise.

World champion

At 14, Hogshead-Maker was a world champion. She qualified for the boycotted 1980 Olympics, retired for a couple of years, then came back to win three golds and a silver medal in 1984.

"It was almost always very difficult for men at first when I would beat them in practice," she said. "Typically, I'd get sexually harassed for a bit. It was a no-win situation for the guys; they just have to be able to see me as another elite athlete who is working as hard as they are."

She hopes she broadened her male teammates' views of what women could accomplish, but she knows there's a lot of work to be done.

At CU, she has met with students, faculty and administration on how to improve policy. That might mean exorcising the devil from the details, she said.

"When our professors get evaluated at the Florida Coastal School of Law, they look at women's participation in class," Hogshead-Makar said. "They find they're not being heard, they're not being respected, they tend to get interrupted much more often, they usually have to keep their hand up longer."

Small slights, disrespect and insults can add up, creating an atmosphere where women feel unsafe being themselves, she said.

"There are very simple, easy things that we try to do to make it a better learning environment for women," Hogshead-Makar said. "Deal with the smaller things, and the bigger things are less likely to happen."

ryckmanl@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2736

The Title IX lowdown

* What is Title IX?

Title IX, part of the Education Amendments of 1972, protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. Title IX states: "No person in the United States shall on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."

* How does Title IX apply to intercollegiate athletics?

Title IX prohibits all public and private colleges and universities that receive federal funding from discriminating on the basis of sex in their intercollegiate athletics programs. Since most colleges and universities receive federal funds - most commonly through financial aid to students -nearly all must comply with Title IX.

* Does Title IX apply only to athletics?

No. It also applies to all aspects of education, including admissions, recruitment, course offerings, counseling and counseling materials, financial assistance, student health, insurance benefits, housing, marital and parental status of students, harassment, physical education and athletics, education programs and activities, and employment.

* Who enforces Title IX?

The Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education is responsible for enforcing Title IX. OCR maintains 12 enforcement offices throughout the nation and a headquarters in Washington.

Nancy Hogshead-Makar

CU's Title IX Adviser

* Age: 45

* Home: Jacksonville, Fla.

* Job: Florida Coastal School of Law professor, expert in gender equity, Title IX

* Background: Won three golds, a silver at 1984 Olympics; Duke University grad

* Personal: Married to Scott Makar, Florida solicitor general; three children

Comments

  • April 4, 2008

    7:43 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    kathyM writes:

    CU Ladies, You're at a college campus populated by young men with alcohol-soaked brains, silver tongues, and raging hormones. CU is not unique; it's the same situation at thousands of colleges around the country. It's reasonable to expect the college to ensure students' safety. It's NOT reasonable to expect the college to ensure students' emotional "comfort."

    Before you all have a snit, I'm speaking from experience: I attended a large public university replete with the usual parties and crazy behavior. My all-girls' dorm was across the street from Frat Row, whose residents regularly treated us to nude serenades and other silly stuff. I experienced stupid and even violent behavior from a variety of males, from college freshmen through tenured professors.

    But what I experienced in college, and what you're complaining about, is nothing compared to what goes on in the real world. So Ladies, don't complain. Use this time to grow a thick skin and a take-no-crap attitude so you're ready for what awaits you after graduation.