RAPID CITY - Thirty-seven words.

That's all it took to trigger a revolution for equality in women's sports.

(Editors Note: This is the second in a two-part series commemorating the 35th Anniversary of the enactment of the Title IX amendment of the Higher Education Act, landmark federal legislation that paved the way for women's participation in sports.)

Never mind that the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, named for its author and enacted 35 years ago, didn't even mention athletics.

The law, known generically as the Title IX amendment of the Higher Education Act, or simply Title IX, simply states, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."

Since the landmark legislation, women's sports have made great strides, but schools are still struggling with leveling the gender playing fields.

"There are still lots of schools that aren't in compliance," said Barb Felderman, longtime women's basketball coach at South Dakota School of Mines in Rapid City.

"It's a federal law. Why isn't it being enforced? Can we pick which laws we choose to obey? How about if we decide not to pay our federal taxes?"

The law has been challenged time and again for its constitutionality amid accusations that its real purpose was to limit men's sports participation.

"The bad rap was that men's sports were going to get cut and that wasn't the intent," said South Dakota School of Mines & Technology athletic director Hugh Welsh. "The intent was to equalize the opportunities for women, not limit men's opportunities."

A 2003 age discrimination suit against the University of South Dakota, brought by two female athletic department employees, brought the issue of Title IX compliance into question.

The school was not found to be any violation of Title IX, but in response, the South Dakota Board of Regents enlisted a higher education search and consulting firm, Alden & Associates of Amhearst, Mass., to review and suggest changes in women's college sports programs.

Dr. James Shekleton, general counsel for the Board of Regents, said that athletic program must meet the athletic interests and ability of a majority of full-time undergraduate students, and that funding and other resources should be comparable for both male and female athletic programs.

"It's a highly complex system of sub-factors that have to be addressed to ensure compliance," Sheckleton said. "It's not just a matter of bringing more people on campus."

Four years after the study, new women's sports have been added at Black Hills State in Spearfish (softball and golf), Northern State University in Aberdeen (swimming and tennis) and at South Dakota State University (equestrian team).

The Board of Regents allocated nearly $5 million for renovation and new construction, including $1.65 million for an equestrian facility at SDSU.

Black Hills State used a combination of the state funds, private donations, general activity fees (including a 70-cent per-year fee increase for three years) to pay for improvements, said Kathy Johnson, BHSU vice-president of finance and administration, The university also capped rosters in some male sports, along with budgeting travel money and supplies. Private fundraising covered the majority of scholarships for the increased numbers of female athletes, she said.

Yellow Jacket Foundation director Steve Meeker said the foundation has seen an increase of 42 percent in giving since 2005.

"BHSU chose to show a history of and continuing practice of expanding opportunities for the under-represented sex, which in our case was the female gender," Meeker said.

"We have made some adjustments and increased the amount of dollars that we are awarding to our female athletes," he said.

Black Hills State's overall enrollment is 65 percent female and 35 percent male, but factoring in the higher number of older female (nontraditional) students who don't participate in sports means the school aims for a 50-50 split.

"That's the number we shoot for," said Jhett Albers, athletic director and women's head volleyball coach.

The Yellow Jacket women's golf team completed its second season this spring, and the softball team played home games this year at a newly refurbished facility featuring improved dugouts, lighting and a paved parking area.

"I think golf and softball have been real positive additions to the athletic program at Black Hills State," Albers said

"Our golf team has already become competitive, finishing second in our conference and qualifying as a team in the regions in just the second year," he said.

This summer, the school is revamping offices training and locker room space for both men and women at the Donald E. Young Athletic Center.

At South Dakota School of Mines, the ratio of men to women is reversed, with the student population 68 percent male and 32 percent female.

That made complying with Title IX based on proportionality a lot easier, said Welsh.

Mines hired a full-time sports information director, revamped locker rooms and training rooms, and hired female coaching assistants for both women's volleyball and basketball teams

The school also increased scholarships and recruiting for women's track and cross-country teams and set strict schedules for uniform and practice rear replacement.

"I feel our people have always been treated fairly," he said. "It's good to have these rules in place."

Mines caps its football team roster at 85 for football and the men's basketball roster at 15.

There is no cap on the women's basketball, volleyball or track teams, but recruiting athletes is a challenge, because of the science and engineering school's comparatively strict academic requirements.

"We have never used athletics to generate student numbers," Welsh said.

"They have to take the same courses that everyone else takes. There's no other program to throw them into," he said.

Football traditionally has skewed the number of players and scholarships in favor of male athletes. To offset the numbers, college athletic programs have added more women's sports or increased recruiting of women athletes.

"We haven't had 85 on our football team for quite some time now. As our football team rebuilds that could become an issue. Most football coaches seem to like having 100-man rosters," Welsh said.

Welsh said Mines is the only Dakota Athletic Conference member school not currently offering women's softball.

"If the football team does make it up to a 100-man roster, that might be the reason to have us add another sport," Welsh said.

Albers said rodeo, now a club sport at BHSU, has seen growth in both male and female participants.

"We have to also look at what's available to us competitively," Albers said.

That's all part of the juggling act that college athletic programs must master to maintain compliance.

"Compliance isn't a destination. It's a journey," said Shekleton. "Just because a program is in compliance today doesn't mean that another new issue won't have to be addressed tomorrow.

"Women get just as much benefits from participation in sports as men do. They gain leadership skills, learn to compete and be part of a team. Scholarships and money spent on programs has to be proportional," Welsh said.

The progress made in the last four years has been noteworthy. Dr. Elizabeth Alden, the consultant hired to study and guide the state on Title IX, commended the state's effort in a December, 2006, report to the Board or Regents.

"I truly believe this process has been historic and should be highlighted in some way…for a state system of higher education to mandate without legal pressures that each public university be in compliance with Title IX is truly significant," she wrote.

But ironic is the fact that most of today's female athletes take their opportunities in sports for granted, that it took a federal law to get them on the playing field.

"That," Shekleton said. "could be taken as a sign of progress."