Merrimack College to Improve Opportunities for Women Student Athletes

Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts, has agreed to take several steps to address gender inequities in its athletics programs.

A compliance review by the Officer for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education found that while women made up 48 percent of the student body, only 36 percent of all student athletes at the college were women. The review found that there were 120 men involved in club sports at the college compared to 37 women. Women received only 33 percent of athletic scholarship money.

Under terms of the agreement, the college agreed to form a women’s ice hockey team, a women’s swimming and diving team, and a women’s water polo team. The college also agreed to direct more resources, including scholarships, to its women’s track and field team, its women’s golf team, and its women’s crew team.