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 discrimination 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 increase from the $48,000 she made from 1993-95. Following the 1998-99 season, she signed a second extension 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 several 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 Division 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 championship in early April, does not disclose the salaries of its coaches because 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 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 Conference are larger on average than what Kent makes, but Runge’s salary is almost 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 basketball 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, assistant 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 Higher Education has shown many colleges 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 $1,668,434.Nancy Lieberman-Cline, former coach and general manager of the WNBA’s Detroit 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 coaches’ 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 approach to compliance, but most schools still don’t attempt to [comply],” she said.
Under Title IX, schools must conform to three categories to be considered in compliance. Athletic aid must be proportionate to the ratio of male and female athletes, competition must be at a level to accommodate students’ interests, and treatments given to each sex must be equivalent but not identical for a school.
Lieberman-Cline said most schools will comply if there is a possibility 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 ability to fiscally manage their programs and the way they conduct themselves around their teams as well as in public.