Ludlowe Twitter Account Prompts Title IX Investigation

FAIRFIELD, CT — A Fairfield school's Twitter account is the focus of a Title IX investigation after a parent spoke out about what she said is a disparity in publicity for girls and boys sports teams.

Fairfield resident Colleen Phelan said she first heard last year about inequity on Fairfield Ludlowe High School's athletic department Twitter account, @LudloweSports. When she examined the account's feed, she found no evidence of the school's high achieving girls swimmers, some of whom qualified for state competition, she said.

"You hear the girls talk about how they don't feel valued," she said. "... That bothers me because it's an easy fix."

Phelan approached Athletic Director Todd Parness about the issue and learned the Twitter feed was often run by a volunteer who had been given access to the account and highlighted the teams in which he was interested, all of which were boys teams, she said. This meant the remaining boys teams as well as co-ed and girls teams received less attention.

Parness said he would fix the problem, according to Phelan. After a month passed and nothing happened, she reached out to the school's Title IX coordinator, but Parness said he didn't think Phelan's concern was a Title IX issue, Phelan said.

Title IX is a federal law that "protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive Federal financial assistance," according to the U.S. Department of Education.

When Phelan didn't see the change she was hoping for, she took to Patch, where she posted an essay Oct. 29 explaining her relationship to Title IX, why she feels equity in athletics is important and her concerns with the situation at Ludlowe. In recent weeks she has been working with the districtwide Title IX coordinator and has been told a Title IX investigation is underway.

Parness confirmed an investigation into the equitability of the Twitter account was ongoing, but said he could not discuss the matter further while the probe is open. Superintendent Mike Cummings said district Title IX Coordinator Colleen Deasy is conducting the investigation, but declined to offer details on the proceeding while the probe is active, other than to say the district is looking into the issue and how to fix it and improve staff awareness. Deasy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Although her daughters have graduated, Phelan remains committed to making sure the Twitter account for Ludlowe athletics is equitable, and said all she wants is a few tweets for each game. She's starting to see progress, she said, noting the involvement of school board members Christine Vitale and Jessica Gerber helped move the discussion in a productive direction.

In the past week, at least, girls teams at Ludlowe have received attention on Twitter, with the vast majority of tweets posted by the athletic department account being about girls sports. Most of those tweets have been about the volleyball team, which is participating in the CIAC tournament after winning the FCIAC tournament.