July 24, 2009

In its continued commitment to Title IX compliance, Baylor University has selected competitive cheer to become its 11th women's intercollegiate athletics program, effective with the 2010-11 academic year. The Baylor Board of Regents approved the addition of competitive cheer during its July 22-24 meeting in Waco.

"After examination of the relevant factors, it is clear that Baylor University and its students will be very well served with the addition of competitive cheer as a varsity sport," said Director of Athletics Ian McCaw. "The State of Texas will provide strong feeder programs as we develop this program in the coming years."

Baylor, which currently fields 18 varsity teams, 10 of which are for women, will become the first Big 12 institution to implement a varsity competitive cheer program and one of three Bowl Championship Series (BCS) members nationally, joining the University of Maryland and the University of Oregon.

A recent survey of Baylor's female undergraduate students revealed that competitive cheer was the overwhelming choice to become the school's next varsity sport for women. Nationally, 24 state high school athletic associations currently recognize competitive cheer as an interscholastic sport and offer a state association sponsored athletic championship. Competitive cheer has the ninth-highest number of high school participants of all female sports nationally and club participation throughout Texas and the nation is strong.

In the most-recent Gender Equity Scorecard, conducted by Penn State York University Political Science Instructor Charles Kennedy, Baylor ranked fourth in the Big 12 behind Texas A&M, Kansas and Iowa State and 42nd nationally, in the study which ranks 115 Division I-A institutions and their conferences on their commitment to gender equity in intercollegiate athletics for the 2006-07 academic year. The Scorecard scores, grades and ranks Universities according to the criteria of participation, scholarship, operating expenses, recruitment budget and coaches' salaries.

Baylor's most-recent sport addition was women's equestrian in Sept. 2004, a program which has quickly become nationally competitive under the leadership of head coach Ellen White.

A national search for Baylor's first competitive cheer coach will be conducted this fall, McCaw said.