Although Title IX has typically been invoked to protect the rights of women, cases alleging discrimination against men are not unheard of, said Russlynn H. Ali, the assistant education secretary who heads the civil rights office. Of the 96 Title IX complaints related to athletics received in the 2010 fiscal year, 11 involved allegations of discrimination against men, according to the office. In the previous year, they made up 10 of the 80 athletics-related Title IX complaints.

Ali noted that women now made up a majority of enrolled students at colleges and universities.

“Title IX protects against sex discrimination,” Ali said. “Traditionally, the underrepresented sex in institutions of higher education has been women. That is changing.”

Universities can comply with Title IX in one of three ways: by showing that the number of female athletes is proportionate to the share of overall female enrollment, by demonstrating a continuing history of expanding sports for women, or by proving that the athletic interests and abilities of the female student body are being met. Rather than spend money on expanding sports for women, many universities have instead cut men’s teams in order to comply with the proportionality method. The practice is frowned upon by the Office for Civil Rights, but it is not prohibited.

Ali said her office was aware of circumstances in which men are underrepresented when it comes to college athletic scholarships, even though they are overrepresented in their overall participation in athletics. And the University of Kansas recently resolved a discrimination complaint filed by a former male swimmer who alleged that the university had been providing athletic slots to a disproportionate number of women. Kansas agreed to reduce the size of its women’s teams and encourage more men to walk on to other men’s teams.

Image Corey Wall helped file a complaint against Delaware. Credit... Courtesy of Corey Wall

Still, men who claim discrimination under the law have had a poor success rate, especially in the courts, said Allison Kasic, an advocate for reform of Title IX who is a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum, a right-of-center research and education institution. One of the most high-profile examples involved the decision in 2006 by James Madison University to cut seven men’s teams to comply with the law. A coalition of athletes, fans and others sued to reverse the decision, but the lawsuit was dismissed.