What ESPN Left on the Cutting Room Floor

by Lara S. Kaufmann, Senior Counsel, 
National Women’s Law Center 

If you watched ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” yesterday, you know it included a segment on a client of ours, a 17-year old high school senior in Fort Worth, Texas. In case you missed it, here it is:

Watch the Video

Our client is a top student, and she was the starting setter on the school’s varsity volleyball team until the athletic coordinator found out that she was pregnant. She was then denied an equal opportunity to play based on her pregnancy, in violation of Title IX’s prohibition against sex discrimination in education. Just last week, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in Dallas opened an investigation into the matter.

The show was engaging, and I applaud ESPN for devoting media attention to the issue of discrimination against pregnant students, as it is still quite common but most often flies below the public’s radar. Too many people – students, parents, and school staff – still do not know that Title IX applies to schools’ treatment of pregnant and parenting students. (For more information on what Title IX requires in this regard, check out our resources on pregnant and parenting students).

The show’s editors left out a few important points worth noting here. First, the weeks when our client did not get to play because of the discrimination were during the height of recruiting season, so not only did the unfair treatment upset our client (and her teammates) and hurt her stats for the season, it also may have caused her to miss out on opportunities to compete for a volleyball scholarship to college. Second, beyond participation in sports and other school activities, Title IX sets out a number of requirements to ensure that pregnant students get equal treatment in school (again, for more information, check out our resources on pregnant and parenting students). And last, but certainly not least, discriminating against and stigmatizing pregnant and parenting students is not just illegal, it is bad for everyone – including the student, her child, her school, her community, and our nation – because it adds to the barriers these students face to graduating from high school, making it more likely that they will give up on school and their chances for successful, healthy lives. Schools should put an end to discrimination, uproot antiquated stereotypes, and do more to give pregnant and parenting students the supports they need to stay engaged in school.