A generation of change
Title IX marks 50 years of progress in female sports

Paquet, who said UWGB isn’t immune to Title IX issues/complaints, gave specific examples of how it has affected the school.

“First off, I couldn’t be happier with how the event went,” he said. “The ladies on the panel fed off each other — it was perfect.”

Paquet said he wanted to bring several things to the discussion.

“Title IX is about accessibility,” he said. “You can’t deprive someone based on gender. Also, how is Title IX applied to sexual misconduct and the rights of an individual who has been a victim of sexual misconduct? As we look to the future, the transgender topic is also going to be an item of interest in the Title IX process.”

Paquet said his position at UWGB is multi-faceted.

“One of the things I do is respond to complaints about accessibility based on gender – and that goes both ways,” he said. “The number of complaints stating, ‘I was deprived of this because I am female’ is probably equal to the number of complaints saying, ‘I was deprived of this because I am male.’”

Paquet said UWGB had a recent example involving a women’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) program.

“The complaint said by titling it how it was, it was a deprivation to males involved with that,” he said. “We explained it was open to anyone, and it was resolved. I also have a team that works on sexual misconduct issues committed by an employee, another student, etc. — that becomes a matter of Title IX, and we have to apply the higher standard of due process to that.”

Paquet said K-12 schools and colleges have similar standards when it comes to Title IX, but there are slight differences.

“In K-12, it’s basically about equal opportunity,” he said. “Even before this year, girls could always participate in wrestling. In that case, a school isn’t compelled to have a men’s and a women’s wrestling team. The WIAA (Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association) recently created a girls’ wrestling state tournament, so that’s great for the future.”

At the collegiate level, Paquet said – on a basic level — it’s more about resource allocation.

“It’s somewhat based on the proportion of students,” he said. “At Green Bay, that’s why we have a volleyball and softball team and no men’s equivalent of those sports. Because we’re roughly 65% females to 35% males in our student body, we are compelled under Title IX to ensure a proper resource allocation.”

Paquet said a common question about UWGB is, “Why don’t you have a football or a hockey team?”

“That’s a Title IX problem for the university because if we have one hockey team, we have to have two hockey teams,” he said. “It’s not a high school where if there is a boys’ hockey team but not a girls’ hockey team, the girls can simply play with the boys.”

Paquet said the student body ratio at UWGB is ever-changing, so if the number would change — for example, maybe to a 55-45 ratio — the school would have to change its resource allocations.

“That could be accomplished by giving more resources to a men’s program to balance that out or we’d have to add another sport,” he said.

Currently, UWGB offers women’s sports in basketball, cross country, golf, Nordic skiing, soccer, softball, swimming and diving and volleyball.

Men’s sports include basketball, cross country, golf, Nordic skiing, soccer and swimming and diving.