The athletic department at the University of Richmond will receive the Diversity in Athletics Award for the category of Gender Equity Compliance next month in Dallas, Texas. The award, support by the NCAA, will be given in recognition of the Richmond Spiders’ devotion to gender equity and diversity in sports.

This is great news. After all, Title IX has been in place since 1972, yet many schools are trailing behind in terms of gender equity and diversity. Women continue to get less funding for their sports than men and minority women are underrepresented in the world of sports. Hopefully, these schools will follow the Richmond Spiders’ lead and work towards athletic equity and diversity.