Looking back to 2007, the year proved to be the best ever for the College Sports Council. The CSC is a young organization, but we are making a resounding impact in policy debates as the leading sports organization working for reform of Title IX's gender quotas.

In addition to the important activities that you will find listed below, a memorable highlight of the year was our 5th anniversary celebration of the CSC in Washington, DC. We were honored by the presence of Olympic Gold Medalist John Naber (4x Gold Medalist, Swimming 1976) and Jason Reed (Gold medalist, Rowing 2004.) John and Jason offered exhilarating speeches sharing the lessons they learned  from their athletic experiences, and expressing their support for the mission of the CSC.  I want also to express my appreciation to Mike Novogratz, former Princeton All-Ivy wrestler, whose generosity made the event possible. Mike has been a valued supporter of the CSC ever since its inception.

I hope that you will be able to join us for future celebrations.

At our 5th anniversary celebration we announced the creation of a Board of Advisors. Our first three 'recruits' are Barbara Ledeen, a founder of the Independent Women's Forum, Jim McCarthy, media relations expert, and James Moffatt, retired business consultant and the CSC's Chairman Emeritus. Over the past five years, we have pulled together experts  from various fields to advise us in our efforts to reform Title IX, and to help build the CSC's organization. In addition to the contributions of these many experts, we are also very proud of our devoted team of volunteers who are working in many ways throughout the country to preserve and promote opportunities for students to participate in athletics.

Following is a list of the key events and activities for 2007:

On January 22, Eric Pearson, CSC, Chairman, testified for the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate athletics. Audio of his testimony can be heard at:
http://www.knightcommission.org/audio/20070122-genderequity.mp3
The printed testimony is also posted at:
http://www.savingsports.org/newsroom/display_releases.cfm?ID=15

In March, CSC released its first comprehensive study demonstrating the decline in athletic opportunities for male athletes. You can read USA Today's coverage of the study at:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/2007-03-28-title-ix_N.htm?csp=34

The Longitudinal Study of NCAA Participation Data by the CSC is posted online at:
http://collegesportscouncil.org/newsroom/display_releases.cfm

On April 28th Eric Pearson was a panel discussion member for the Stanford University Center on Ethics' conference - Title IX Today, Title IX Tomorrow.
http://ethics.stanford.edu/titleixconference/index.html

On May 11, Jessica Gavora, CSC VP for Policy, testified at the US Commission on Civil Rights hearing on Title IX.
http://www.usccr.gov/press/prsndx.htm

On June 19th , Eric Pearson testified for the US House of Representative's Subcommittee for Higher Education 35th anniversary of Title IX hearings. This was the first time a CSC representative has ever been invited to participate in a Congressional hearing. The testimony is posted at:
http://savingsports.blogspot.com/

In June, the CSC partnered with the Pacific Legal Foundation to file a petition to the US Department of Education to clarify that proportionality does not apply to scholastic sports. Our goal is to prevent the gender quota from devastating High School sports as it has Collegiate teams.
http://savingsports.blogspot.com/

Media coverage included the publication of an article by Jessica Gavora in June during the 35th Anniversary of Title IX in Sports Illustrated online:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/06/21/titleix.csc/

In addition to a Newsweek.com interview, Jessica also published a piece in National Review Online, which is posted at: 
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NTgxOTlmZmMzYTgwMWZkZWY1NDA1YjkxZWE5MTU0Yjc"

A Southern California Public Radio panel discussion on Title IX at UCLA on November 7th included Eric Pearson along with Olympic Gold medalist Peter Vidmar (Gymnastics 1984). The program can be heard online at:
http://www.scpr.org/programs/pattmorrison/listings/2007/11/pattmorrison_20071112.shtml

Eric Pearson was interviewed in November for an ESPN documentary feature on Title IX that will air in March 2008.

The CSC continues to work with our important coalition of coaching associations like the College Gymnastics Association, College Swim Coaches Association of America, and the National Wrestling Coaches Association. These organizations all share our mission to preserve and promote the student athlete experience, and we appreciate the devotion to the CSC of their Executive Directors, Richard Aronson (CGA), Phil Whitten (CSCAA), and Mike Moyer (NWCA).  USA Wrestling and Gary Abbott also deserve special mention for their crucial financial and staff support over the past 5 years.

I am also very proud of the CSC's very hard working volunteer board members, who, in addition to their full time employment, are also leaders in their communities. For example:

Alan Leet continues his work with the Georgia Intercollegiate Wrestling Coalition to establish a collegiate program in the state of Georgia. We congratulate them in their recent achievement, as Darton College recently announced that it would add a wrestling team in 2008. The news release is located at: 
http://cavs.darton.edu/news.php?Key=View&Index=315

Bob Groseth led the Northwestern University men's swimming team to a 6th place finish in the NCAA Division I Championships. Bob was named the 2007 Big Ten Coach of the Year, and was recently elected as
President- elect of the College Swim Coaches Association of America.

Bob Wuornos continues his leadership work for collegiate gymnastics through the Men's Intercollegiate Gymnastics Support Program. 
http://www.migsp.org/
His strategy of building relationships with colleges will create opportunities to establish new men's gymnastics teams. Bob's long-term goal is to have at least one men's intercollegiate varsity gymnastics team operational in each of our 50 states.

Clay McEldowney has been our key fundraiser for the CSC, in addition to his other extensive community work that last year included spending part of his summer in Africa volunteering to work on a project for Engineers Without Borders.

After years of work, Jamie Moffatt, CSC's Chairman Emeritus, has published his book 'Wrestlers at the Trials.' This book makes an important contribution to the annals of history for Olympic sports. 
Copies may be purchased at:
http://www.wrestlersatthetrials.com/

We look forward to 2008 and the opportunities that we will have to continue our efforts to impact the Title IX reform debate. I hope that we can count on your support this year. You can make a tax-deductible contribution to the CSC right now online through our website 
http://collegesportscouncil.org/donations/

or you can mail a check payable to College Sports Council to:
College Sports Council
P.O. Box 53356
Washington, DC 20009-9356

I thank you for your support of the CSC team in 2007. We are counting on your help again in 2008!