Wooster Athletics has consistently chosen to remain reactive, rather than proactive, when it comes to gender equity, as seen in the recent announcement for locker room renovations.
Roughly four years ago, the College created a two-part plan to renovate various parts of the Scot Center. Phase I was to include massive renovations in the basketball gym and minor renovations to the swimming pool and “Hotbox.” Phase II was to include renovations of both women’s and men’s locker rooms with the creation of a new, all-gender locker room.
According to the Facilities Department, Phases I and II were projected to cost roughly $3.5 million and $2 million, respectively. Reportedly, Phase I went over budget and took funds from Phase II, leaving it with approximately $1 million. Renovations on the women’s locker rooms and the creation of the all-gender locker room will begin this May and extend to January.
This project, while desperately needed, is anything but progressive.
Why has it taken so long for the athletic department to provide equal spaces for teams with both male and female counterparts?
Why was gender equity in spaces not made a priority after the 1972 passing of Title IX, which “requires the equal treatment of female and male athletes in the provisions of … (f) locker rooms, practice and competitive facilities?”
Why was gender equity not prioritized during the $32 million renovation of the entire Scot Center in 2012? Locker rooms on the first floor were renovated during this time but even these new spaces give larger locker rooms to men’s teams, seen specifically in the different sizes of the women’s and men’s track & field and cross country locker rooms.
Most recently, why did creating equal facilities and aligning the College with Title IX take a backseat to updating our training and competing facilities, as seen in the planning of Phase I and II?
Simply put, athletic administration has not made gender equity and Title IX compliance a priority.
According to Scot Center blueprints, women’s soccer and basketball are currently allocated approximately 400 and 300 sq. ft. of space while men’s soccer and basketball are given 509 and 448 sq. ft., respectively.
Women’s swimming & diving is given 282 sq. ft. while its male team counterpart, with fewer team members, has 410 sq. ft. Women’s softball has roughly 300 sq. ft., while the Men’s Baseball team takes the largest locker room of 700 sq. ft.
Second floor women’s teams share 336 sq. ft. of showering space while the second floor men’s teams have a total 490 sq. ft. showering space, excluding the Men’s basketball team’s private shower.
Today, the average women’s team’s locker room on the second floor of the Scot Center is roughly 211 sq. ft. while the average men’s locker room on the same floor is over 515 sq. ft.
It is disappointing that this has carried on for so long, to say the absolute least.
Women have long been told to be thankful when offered the “same” treatment as men, no matter how late inequalities are solved. I refuse to adopt this mentality nor sit idly while it is forced upon women athletes on campus.
Our college prides itself in being a progressive and equitable community after which the real world should model itself. How can we even attempt to change this world for the better if we cannot establish basic equitable practices here?
Annabelle Hopkins, a Contributing Writer for the Voice, can be reached for comment at AHopkins19@wooster.edu.