For Immediate Release
December 15, 2022
Contact: CWA Communications Team
comms@cwfa.org
(703) 282-7320
NCAA’s New President Must Rescue Women’s Sports
Appointment of Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker gives female athletes hope
Washington, D.C. – Today, Concerned Women for America (CWA) applauded the appointment of outgoing Governor of Massachusetts, Charlie Baker, to head the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a hopeful sign that new policies for protecting female athletes may be possible.
“Charlie Baker’s appointment could be a desperately needed reset in the NCAA for female athletes, and we hope he stands up to lead,” said Penny Nance, CEO and President of CWA, the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization. “As the spouse of a former college athlete and someone devoted to children’s wellbeing, we expect Gov. Baker to understand that female athletes should never be subject to harassment, intimidation, and discrimination as they are experiencing in today’s NCAA.
“Outgoing NCAA President Mark Emmert has overseen a decade of degradation of college women’s sports, treating females as second class athletes and an outright denial of our status as women by allowing males like Lia Thomas to compete in women’s sports. Forcing female athletes to stand down so men can steal their scholarships and their trophies, invade their locker rooms and their events has been the ultimate act of discrimination against women.
“We call on Baylor President Linda Livingstone, chair of the NCAA Board of Governors, and Gov. Baker to end the exclusion of female athletes in their own sports and cease denying their rights to equity and fairness in sport. Title IX was meant to level the playing field, but allowing men to compete in female sports strikes a blow to that equity.”
Concerned Women for America has been at the forefront of challenging universities violating female athletes’ Title IX protections against sex discrimination. CWA has filed three civil rights complaints on behalf of college women athletes and will not stop fighting for their rights.
For more information, please contact comms@cwfa.org.
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Concerned Women for America is the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization; we are dedicated to promoting Biblical values and Constitutional principles. More information is available at ConcernedWomen.org.