The Carleton Ravens men’s lacrosse team is looking to gain varsity status within the next two years, according to the team’s president Steven Carswell. A program that has made several strides since its inception as a club in 1986, Carswell’s group definitely deserves consideration. After their winless season in 2006, the Ravens made it all the way to the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association (CUFLA) semifinals this year.
If the athletics department deems the team worthy for varsity status, they should just go ahead and offer it to them — without having to worry about finding a women’s team to make the jump to varsity along with them.
It seems like the athletics department’s desire to promote gender equity is counter-productive in this case. Just because a men’s team gains varsity status, it shouldn’t mean a women’s team must do the same, and vice-versa. Gaining varsity status should be based on merit, and nothing else.
Along these lines, the only reason Carleton’s women’s rugby’s team is getting considered for varsity status is because the football committee and the athletics department are looking for another women’s varsity team to accompany the men’s football squad in 2012, to simply ensure gender equity. The argument here isn’t that the women’s rugby team is not worthy of varsity status, because they certainly are. But they deserve it because of the way their program is run and the success they’ve seen over the last several years.
Perhaps the reason for this is born out of the athletics department’s fear of appearing sexist or politically incorrect. They should put those fears aside. It will not only help them build a more successful department, but it will also move us closer to gender equality — that is gender equality in its true form, political correctness aside.