Dartmouth announced in January that five varsity athletic teams, which were eliminated last summer, are being immediately reinstated as it begins “a comprehensive, external review of the (school’s) athletic department’s policies, practices, and governance model.”
The reinstatement of women’s and men’s swimming and diving, women’s and men’s golf, and men’s lightweight rowing comes after Dartmouth recently learned that elements of the data that were used to confirm continued Title IX compliance “may not have been complete.”
The school continued: “As part of a resolution of threatened legal action, Dartmouth and members of the women’s golf and women’s swimming and diving teams today entered into a settlement that included the issuance of a joint statement on reinstatement of the teams. The statement also says that Dartmouth will undertake a gender-equity review of its varsity athletics program.”
Students who had been athletes on the teams were notified of the reinstatement in an email from President Philip J. Hanlon ’77. Dartmouth gave the coaches who were let go when the teams were eliminated “the right of first refusal on returning to their positions.”
“The July 9 decision to eliminate the teams is one of the institutional changes Dartmouth has made in the past year to address increasing financial pressure resulting from a looming structural deficit that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to give the institution more flexibility in undergraduate admissions,” according to the school. “The reinstated teams are to be in place at least through the 2024-25 academic year.”
“We know that many in our community have been disappointed by the decisions we have made within Athletics and across the institution,” President Hanlon said in a statement. “The news that the data used to confirm Title IX compliance in connection with the team eliminations may not have been complete only adds to that disappointment.
We sincerely apologize that this process has been, and continues to be, so painful to our current and former student-athletes and all who support them. Through the actions above, we will make sure that any future decisions will be based on accurate data. Our sincere hope is that these reviews and team reinstatements will create an opportunity for us to come together as a community as we navigate the challenging times ahead.”
Three reviews will take place. Holland & Knight, a national law firm with expertise in Title IX compliance, will conduct a gender-equity review of varsity athletics. The firm will request and consider input from student-athletes and alumni, including those from the reinstated teams, as part of the review, which is to be completed no later than March 15, 2022. The Ivy League, of which Dartmouth is a member, will conduct an NCAA compliance review of varsity athletics. And Dartmouth’s auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers, will conduct a process-and-control review of Dartmouth Athletics to examine administrative systems to make certain appropriate business practices are being followed and effective governance structures are in place.
Hanlon said the reviews “will strengthen our practices and governance structures and ensure that Dartmouth Athletics is fully compliant with all Title IX, NCAA, and Ivy League policies.”
The findings will be given to Hanlon and the Dartmouth Board of Trustees Committee on Audit and Oversight. Dartmouth will then publish an action plan based on the reviews’ recommendations and take any necessary steps to ensure Title IX compliance and to address the institution’s goals, priorities, and challenges, said Hanlon.
Within weeks of the announcement, Hanlon announced in an email to former Big Green athletes that Athletic Director Harry Sheehy would be retiring. Peter Roby will take over as interim athletics director and will serve through June 2022.
The Valley News reported that “hours after the college publicized the decision to reinstate the sports on Jan. 29, Sheehy appeared on a Zoom call with athletic department administrators and student-athletes impacted by the cuts. Meant to formally reintroduce the athletes back into the athletics’ family, the question-and-answer portion of the discussion included calls for Sheehy to apologize and resign.”
