Cohen v. Brown University
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
991 F.2d 888 (1993)
Brown University (defendant) fielded 15 women's and 16 men's varsity teams, but men held 63% of all athletic positions (partly due to football) against 37% for women, even though women made up roughly half the student body; when Brown cut four teams (women's volleyball and gymnastics, men's water polo and golf) for cost reasons, cut athletes could continue as unfunded intercollegiate clubs. Amy Cohen and other women athletes (plaintiffs) sued under Title IX, and the district court granted a preliminary injunction blocking elimination of the women's teams; Brown appealed.
Whether universities will incur liability under Title IX if they distribute athletic opportunities in numbers "substantially proportionate" to the gender composition of their student bodies, continually expand athletic opportunities to meet the needs of the underrepresented gender, or fully and effectively accommodate the interests of the underrepresented sex.