This is the second of a three-part series regarding the Ball State athletics department and Title IX compliance. On Thursday, read about the actions of the athletics department as well as Kathy Bull's lawsuit against the university.
In a decade where Ball State athletic facilities have received significant upgrades, equity concerns remain. Athletic director Tom Collins touts the upgrades and strides made in making female facilities comparable to male facilities.
"In the past we have added women's locker rooms under Scheumann Stadium for soccer, field hockey and track and field," he said via email. "In the last two years we have added a new scoreboard and improved PA system and improved the batting cages for softball."
Plenty of work remains, though. Documents obtained through the Indiana Access to Public Records Act show Ball State having locker rooms available for every team on campus.
But that is not the case.
"While our facilities are equal to the baseball team's, we don't have a locker room," softball coach Craig Nicholson said. "Progress has been made, but we're still waiting for the progress to make it down to us."
Other inequities will be addressed this summer when the soccer team is relocated to the Briner Sports Complex adjacent to Scheumann Stadium.
Collins also noted the cross country team hosted its first home meet in 12 years in 2010, as well as the new gymnastics facility.
Despite upgrades and the addition of locker rooms, problems remain. There aren't enough lockers available to the gymnastics team, forcing the team to use two locker rooms.
Documents obtained through the Indiana Access to Public Records Act reveal the women's swimming and diving team has to use a public locker room while the men's swimming and diving team does not.
Locker room sharing could also be a problem. Documents show the field hockey, soccer, and track and field teams share the same space. If any of the practices overlap, more than 40 athletes may be forced to share 15 showerheads, four sinks and two toilets.
The gymnastics program did receive a new facility this school year, but it came at a price. Prior to the start of the 2011 season, gymnasts had to travel to Fishers for practice, losing critical training time.
The new gymnastics facility is also smaller than originally announced, and critical mistakes were made in its construction.
"The ceiling is too low in some areas, so we had to work out how to make use of the space we have," gymnastics coach Nadalie Walsh said. "All the equipment is very close together under the section where the ceiling is higher. We had to get creative to make the layout work."
Walsh said she didn't believe the low ceiling was an intentional mistake. She said the administration has been helpful and show its commitment to the gymnastics program in purchasing new equipment.
The new equipment did not come from the gymnastics budget, a gesture appreciated by Walsh, especially in a tough economy.
"As coaches, we're here to coach and mentor athletes," Walsh said. "It's about allowing the athletes to do what they love to do."
History
Ball State once had two separate athletics departments — one for male teams and one for female teams. That changed in 1995 when the departments were unified with Andi Seger as athletic director.
A coach, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation, said any athletics department has problems, but Ball State's issues weren't as significant in the 1990s.
"It felt in my mind that things were pretty decent when I arrived at Ball State," the coach said. "I went to the athletic department with concerns fairly often. I also had it better than most coaches, especially swimming, who even then couldn't fund their entire season."
Seger retired in 2002 and was replaced by Bubba Cunningham.
"When Andi left, that's when the women got the shaft," the coach said. "It was a completely different situation from before."
In 2003, male athletes represented 59 percent of participants, creating a disproportionate ratio of female athletes to the female student population and forcing Ball State to drop men's track and field.
"Ball State went through a lot of hard times," the coach said. "Dropping sports was their way of addressing gender equity, but there were still teams that couldn't even afford to go to regular Mid-American Conference contests."
Dropping men's track and field brought the participant ratio back into balance. But a loophole provided by the NCAA allows schools to count female athletes in cross-country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field up to three times. This could help provide balance in participation numbers. It is unknown if Ball State counts those athletes more than once.
"I don't believe they addressed everything," former softball coach Terri Laux said. "The things that were easy to address they did, but they didn't go across the board."
There was also a significant investment into the football program that made coaches and athletes feel they didn't have the support of the athletic department.
"They had their big push with football with Brady Hoke," the coach said. "That shouldn't have come at the cost of other sports, though. What Brady did was a great thing, but we had teams winning MAC championships and not feeling like they were being rewarded.
"They felt as if they were second rate, and that's something a student-athlete should never feel."
Men's programs felt the crunch as well. Men's volleyball lost scholarships, as did the men's swimming and diving program.
Even with the loss of funding coaches continue to make athletes their priority.
"You can take my budget, my scholarships and my assistant coaches," men's swimming coach Bob Thomas said. "I'll work harder and longer — just as long as you keep giving the guys opportunities."
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