Background
In the trenches of the COVID-19 pandemic, University of Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta in August 2020 announced plans to cut costs by cutting four programs: men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s gymnastics, and men’s tennis. Female athletes cried foul, pointing to what they said were long-standing gender inequities within the department amounting to Title IX violations, and they sued.
To the assertion UI Athletics had been non-compliant with athletic equity mandates for at least 18 years,
A federal judge in December 2020 found the students had a compelling case — compelling Barta to announce in February 2021 he would reinstate women’s swimming and diving.
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Later that year, in September 2021, both sides agreed to a settlement that — among other things — reinstated women’s swimming and diving for at least seven years; launched a women’s wrestling program; capped the women’s rowing team at 75 members; and appointed an independent Title IX compliance monitor.
Gabriel Feldman, sports law professor and director of the Tulane Sports Law Program with Tulane University, was appointed to serve as that monitor for three years — starting with the 2021-2022 term and ending with 2023-2024.
He was asked to review UI’s compliance with the three Title IX compliance prongs — equal participation opportunities, benefits and treatment, and scholarship opportunities — and told to produce an annual report no later than Oct. 1 of each year.
Weeks after signing the settlement, UI officials on Oct. 11, 2021 held an initial online call with Feldman that wasn’t recorded, according to reporting by The Gazette. And on Jan. 31, 2022 — more than four months after signing the agreement — UI officials said they had had no emails or other written communication with Feldman.
Feldman in his report said he made his first and only site visit to campus Aug. 26, 2022 — just weeks before his final report was due. In his 11-page report dated Oct. 1, 2022, Feldman determined UI “in the aggregate” appeared to be in compliance with equitable treatment provisions.
Where discrepancies might exist, Feldman said UI was on track to comply.
What has happened since?
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Days after UI Athletics posted Feldman’s first monitor report, Iowa City-based attorney James Larew — representing the female athletes who sued — sent a letter to Feldman and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office raising concerns about the substance of his report, the level of effort given and the approximate findings, among other things.
“Neither we nor our clients were ever contacted during your initial review process nor in what was described in media reports as a one-day visit to the University of Iowa campus in August,” Larew wrote to Feldman. “As a matter of substance, the initial report sets forth conclusions, but does not describe the data reviewed or relied upon, or the modes of analysis used.”
The Gazette for more than a year has been asking the UI how much it has or plans to pay Feldman, and officials repeatedly said they had not received any invoices from him.
On March 7, the university again said it had no invoices from Feldman — and officials didn’t answer The Gazette’s questions about whether it had anyone on staff tracking the time Feldman spent working as a UI monitor or how many hours he spent on campus.
On March 30, UI officials said they had been “made aware” of an invoice from Feldman for $18,912.50 for the 44.5 hours he spent on the project — amounting to $425 an hour.
Breaking down those hours, Feldman reported working one hour May 20 to review UI policies and data and another 2.5 hours in July reviewing policies.
He spent seven hours traveling to Iowa City on Aug. 25, nearly eight hours visiting campus Aug. 26, and then another 7.5 hours the following day traveling home. The rest of his time on the project was spent reviewing notes and compiling his report in September.
Although his invoice is dated Dec. 1, 2022, UI Athletics officials told The Gazette they didn’t receive an electronic copy until March 22.
“The consultant indicated he mailed a hard copy to his previous contact in December, which was not received by the university,” according to Associate Athletics Director and Chief Financial Officer Greg Davies.
When pressed, officials said Feldman’s previous contact was Chief Operating Officer Barbara Burke, who retired in early January.
Burke, “to our knowledge, had not received it prior to her retirement,” UI Athletics spokesman Steve Roe said.
UI Athletics also recently had to hire a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant as part of a $4.2 million settlement with former football players who accused UI Athletics of fostering a climate of racism and discrimination.
Leonard Moore — a University of Texas at Austin American history professor and former vice president of diversity and community engagement — signed a $35,000 contract to spend the year helping UI Athletics operationalize its new and first “diversity, equity, and inclusion five-year action plan.”
Feldman Iowa Title IX Monitor Invoice Dec 2022_Redacted by Gazetteonline on Scribd
UI Athletics Title IX monitor paid $19K for first report
Lawyer for female athletes complains Tulane law professor did not talk to female athletes before filing report
www.thegazette.com
