Only 25 years ago, few women entering college would ever have expected athletics to be an integral part of their college experience.

Even three years ago, women's volleyball, softball and ice hockey were considered Level II varsity sports at Harvard, not afforded the full time coach or support given to Level I sports.

And until last year women's crew was not sponsored by the NCAA. There was no national championship race for the sport, no rings for the fastest boat.

The nature of college athletics in this nation has changed in the past two decades, and that change has accelerated within the last five years.

An increased focus on women's athletics, along with the passage of the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act of 1994, requiring athletic departments to publicize their budgets for men's and women's sports, has ensured athletic departments that the public and the law are watching as they make decisions regarding women's sports.

As funding and opportunities for women athletics have become more available, Harvard students say the impact on their lives has been tremendous.

"Athletics mean everything to me," says Rebe E. Glass '98, captain of the women's soccer team. "They've shaped my college experience. My mother didn't have the opportunity to play soccer or any team sport, and she's incredibly jealous of the experiences I've had."

Harvard has traditionally been at the forefront of the gender equity debate. And while many coaches and students report the department has room for improvement, they also say they are surprisingly pleased with the way recent changes have affected women's athletics.

A Lasting Title

The current revolution which has taken place in women athletics began in 1972, with passage of Title IX of the Education Amendment.

Title IX was designed to eliminate sex-based discrimination in federally run educational programs. A broad-based bill affecting elementary schools, high schools and colleges, Title IX states that "No person in the United States shall on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."

In 1979, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare issued an elaboration of Title IX, in which the bill was interpreted to apply to two main areas of athletics--opportunity and finances.

The strength of Title IX was tested in 1992 when the Supreme Court made a public school's athletic department pay monetary damages for Title IX violations. It was the first time the law showed its teeth.

But it was in 1993, when the Supreme Court found Brown University guilty of Title IX violations after the university eliminated its women's varsity gymnastics and volleyball programs that athletic departments of the ivy-league got a wake-up call.

The ruling established that woman must make up a percentage of the school's athletic population equal to their percentage of the student body as a whole.

Suddenly, schools and colleges realized they could no longer ignore Title IX regulations.