Gender grades fail to tell the whole story
Women's programs thrive at OU, OSU

It just wasn't right.

Ditto for the grades in the recently released Gender Equity Scorecard.

Oklahoma's grade: B.

Oklahoma State's: F-.

It just isn't right. Neither grade is high enough.

Before you know why, you have to understand the grading system for the national study of 115 Division I-A schools and their commitment toward their women's sports programs. Charles Kennedy, a senior instructor of political science at Penn State York, started doing the scorecard five years ago. He focused on five areas: participation, scholarships, operating expenses, recruiting budgets and coaches' salaries.

He established benchmarks for each area. Participation, for example, compared the percentage of female athletes to the percentage of all female students at the school. The goal benchmark was 0.0. So, if a school's student body was 50 percent female but its sports teams were only 45 percent, the school received a -5.

The pluses and the minuses were added up from all five categories to produce a score.

OU scored -24.68, OSU -69.32.

"The schools that are doing well,” Kennedy said of the study, "are making a commitment to women's sports by putting the money in them.”

Hey, I'm all for that notion. Gender equity is about more than adding women's sports. They have to be supported both emotionally and financially.

But still, the results on the fields and courts, courses and tracks indicate OU and OSU are doing that better than their grades lead you to believe.

Let's start with OU. Look across the board, and you'll see one of the most successful women's sports programs around. Basketball and softball are perennial powers. Volleyball, gymnastics and track are rising. Soccer and tennis have some of the best facilities you'll find anywhere. Rowing has just been added.

And yet, the Gender Equity Scorecard ranks 22 schools higher than OU.

Then, there's OSU. Basketball and soccer have become forces in a short amount of time. Golf, equestrian and tennis have been continually strong.

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