$300,000
$250,000
$200,000
$150,000
$100,000
$50,000
$0
* out of 239 schools
** out of 236 schools
Pac-10 Salaries Average Division I Salaries
Basketball Coaches’ Salaries
SOURCES: UO Assistant Athletic Director Dave Williford, the Pacific-W Conference, and the NCAA 1997-98 Gender Equity Report
Brooke Mossefin Emerald
Coaches’ pay still uneven,
despite success of Title IX
■ Discrepancies still exist
between the salaries that
male and female athletics
coaches receive
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
The ongoing legal investigation
concerning Jody Runge’s treatment
of the Oregon women’s basketball
players has pushed her into the
spotlight for the second time during
her eight-year term at the University.
In 1995, Runge threatened to file a
multi-million dollar lawsuit against
the University, claiming that parts of
her contract violated the Title IX
law. The law was enacted in 1972
and bans any gender-based discrim
ination in schools receiving federal
funding, whether the discrimination
is based on academics or athletics.
Runge’s lawsuit was eventually
dropped, and she signed an extension
paying her $80,000 per year, an in
crease from the $48,000 she made
from 1993-95. Following the 1998
99 season, she signed a second ex
tension that placed her salary at its
current level of $140,000 a year.
Runge’s grievance echoed the
complaints by some in collegiate
athletics that women are paid less
than men. But others ;say coaches’
salaries are not simply based on
gender, but are determined by sever
al other factors.
A 1997-98 gender equity survey
by the NCAA shows male coaches
are paid almost $50,000 more per
year than female coaches at the Di
vision I level. Men make an average
of $120,857, while women make
$74,187.
Not every university is counted in
that survey, however.
The University of Notre Dame,
which saw its women’s basketball
team win the national champi
onship in early April, does not dis
close the salaries of its coaches be
cause it is a private university. John
Heisler, assistant athletic director
for the university, said the salary for
its women’s coach is determined by
the human resources department,
and that Notre Dame attempts to
pay salaries that are comparable
with the rest of the nation.
University basketball coaches
Ernie Kent and Jody Runge both
earn the base salary of $140,000 a
year, and Dave Williford, assistant
athletic director for the University,
said Oregon has pledged to comply
with Title IX.
“The University is committed to
equal pay,” he said.
Williford added that base salary
is only what the University pays
each coach. Outside factors, such as
promotions, including shoe deals
Our coaches are
evaluated on the
principles we set down
in our department
• Mitch Barnhart
athletic director,
Oregon State University //
and radio shows, can raise what
each coach earns. This can create
differences in the overall salary
each coach earns in a year.
Average salaries for other male
coaches in the Pacific-10 Confer
ence are larger on average than what
Kent makes, but Runge’s salary is al
most equal with the rest of the league.
Men make an average of $263,000 a
year, while women earn $144,000.
Pac-10 universities have a wide
range of salary figures. Men’s basket
ball coach Rob Evans at Arizona
State University earns $577,405,
while the women’s coach, Charli
Turner Thorne, makes $116,699. At
the University of Washington,
men’s coach Bob Bender has a
salary of $165,360, while women’s
coach June Daugherty earns
$148,128 per year.
When asked why there was such
a discrepancy in what coaches
make in the Pac-10, Ben Jay, assis
tant commissioner of business and
finance for the conference, said
each school typically bases its
salaries on the rest of the nation.
He said the Pac-10 does not help
determine what each coach makes.
A report by the Chronicle of High
er Education has shown many col
leges around the nation pay a much
larger proportion of salaries to
men’s sports.
At the University of Oregon, 31
percent of sports salaries are paid to
women, with men getting 69 percent.
Women are paid a total of $736,593,
while men tally $l,668,434.Nancy
Lieberman-Cline, former coach and
general manager of the WNBA’s De
troit Shock and a member of the
Women’s Sports Foundation, said
she is happy to see the strides that
have been made in equity in coach
es’ pay in the past. But, she said,
women should not be completely
satisfied until salaries are equal. She
said college basketball mirrors the
marketplace in that women have
traditionally made less than men.
Despite this, Lieberman-Cline
said she believes women’s salaries
should be increasing with each year.
“We’re gaining popularity in the
marketplace,” she said. “I think
we’ve made incredible strides. ”
Lieberman-Cline, who played at
Old Dominion from 1976-79, said
complying with Title IX is the first
step to equality in sports.
“There is a three-pronged ap
proach to compliance, but most
schools still don’t attempt to [com
ply],” she said.
Under Title IX, schools must con
form to three categories to be con
sidered in compliance. Athletic aid
must be proportionate to the ratio of
male and female athletes, competi
tion must be at a level to accommo
date students’ interests, and treat
ments given to each sex must be
equivalent but not identical for a
school.
Lieberman-Cline said most
schools will comply if there is a pos
sibility of being punished, but until
then, there is nothing to push them
to do so. She said if one school is
punished for non-compliance, the
others will “fall in line.”
Mitch Barnhart, athletic director
for Oregon State University, said
coaches’ salaries at Oregon State are
based on a variety of factors.
“Our coaches are evaluated on
the principles we set down in our
department,” he said.
He said these principles include
the coaches’ competitiveness, their
ahility to fiscally manage their pro
grams and the way they conduct
themselves around their teams as
well as in public.
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