Title IX Commission member Griffith to get Senate hearing for judicial nomination

COLLEGE SPORTS COUNCIL SUPPORTS NOMINATION

Thomas B. Griffith of Utah, who served as a member of the federal commission that reviewed Title IX in 2002 and 2003, will receive a confirmation hearing for his nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The Associated Press has reported that Senator Orin Hatch of Utah, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has scheduled a confirmation hearing next Tuesday for Griffith, who was nominated for this prestigious judicial appointment by the Bush Administration.

Griffith, who serves as the General Counsel for Brigham Young University, was a member of the Department of Education’s Commission on Opportunity in Athletics and was an advocate of reasonable reforms of Title IX regulations. Griffith was against proportionality, the Title IX enforcement interpretation that uses a strict gender quota to determine opportunities.

A number of leading radical groups that support proportionality have opposed the Griffith nomination, citing his service on the Title IX Commission as a reason to deny his nomination. These critics have been a part of a successful effort to hold up the nomination process for Griffith.

The College Sports Council, a group of sports coaches associations working to support fairness in sports opportunity, has asked people to contact their Senators and to support the Griffith nomination. One of the members of the College Sports Council is the National Wrestling Coaches Association.

According to a recent College Sports Council announcement, “Mr. Griffith fully understood the damage caused by the proportionality prong of the Three Part Test. As part of his work on the Commission, he proposed that the Department of Education eliminate proportionality as a measurement for compliance with Title IX, which would have put an end to the unfair gender quota system that eliminates opportunities for young men to play sports.”

Hatch has been a strong supporter of Griffith’s nomination, and said that it is his goal to help get the Griffith nomination through the Senate this year.

“I’m going to see if I can change some of these Democrats who have been so obnoxious about it,” Hatch said to the Associated Press today.

According to the Senate Judiciary Committee web page, a hearing on Judicial Nominations will be held on Tuesday, November 16 starting at 8:30 a.m., in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Griffith will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, as well as two other judicial nominees.

The Women’s Sports Foundation, a leading proportionality advocacy group, has attacked Griffith in recent announcements. In a letter from Donna Lopiano, CEO of the Women’s Sports Foundation, the organization claimed that “Griffith has worked to weaken the progressive efforts of Title IX.”

Eric Pearson, CSC Executive Director, denies the allegations made by Lopiano, along with attacks on Griffith from a number of other feminist organizations.

“They say that Title IX is under attack and it is not. They say that Griffith was attacking Title IX, and he didn’t. He was just trying to reform Title IX,” said Pearson.

“You can’t support proportionality and say you support Title IX,” said Pearson. “Proportionality requires discrimination based upon gender. Title IX as written says that it is illegal. The radical groups that support proportionality do not support the original intent of Title IX. Tom Griffith is a true supporter of Title IX because he recognizes that proportionality is against the spirit of the law.”

Pearson urges individuals to immediately contact their Senators to voice their support for the Griffith nomination. Are American colleges and schools complying with Title IX?

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