Pregnancy policy now at coaches' discretion.

Byline: Rob Moseley The Register-Guard

Both Oregon and Oregon State are among the estimated 90 percent of NCAA Division I schools that do not have written policies addressing the status of athletes who become pregnant, an issue that recently received national attention after reports on women who lost scholarships after becoming pregnant, or who sought abortions to avoid a loss of aid.

Officials at Oregon said their athletic department will put a policy in writing soon after an NCAA committee meets to discuss the issue in July. The Ducks otherwise have relied on the discretion of their coaches in such situations, as the Beavers do, according to an OSU spokesman.

The Ducks' policy will be formulated by the athletic department's performance-enhancement team, said one of its members, UO senior associate athletic director and senior women's administrator Renee Baumgartner. The team includes assistant AD for student services Karen Nelson and director of athletic medicine Dr. Robert Crist, among others.

"Everyone is aware of the national issue, and we're working diligently to develop a written policy," Baumgartner said.

ESPN reported earlier this month that athletes at Clemson were asked to sign documents in 2005 stating that pregnancy would affect their scholarships, with at least seven women choosing to terminate pregnancies rather than run that risk. A school official told ESPN that the policy since has been ended.

Also, a member of the Memphis track team told The Associated Press that she lost her scholarship after becoming pregnant, with athletic department officials there attributing that decision to an individual coach.

Leaving such decisions to coaches, rather than having a department-wide policy, seems to be the norm nationally. Elizabeth Sorensen, an associate professor at Wright State, has determined that, of the more than 300 Division I schools in the NCAA, just 26 have written policies regarding pregnant athletes.

That may change after the NCAA's committee on women's athletics meets in July to discuss the issue. Committee leader Janet Kittell has said she doesn't believe that the situation "calls for emergency legislation, but I think it calls for a thorough discussion and thoughtful response."

NCAA rules allow for athletes to receive an extra year of eligibility if pregnancy causes them to sit out for a season, but that is not a requirement. However, Title IX, the federal law prohibiting unequal treatment based on gender, mandates that schools receiving federal funds may not exclude students based on pregnancy.

"The regulations say very clearly that institutions cannot discriminate against students on the basis of pregnancy," Deborah Brake, an associate professor of law at Pittsburgh, told ESPN. "It's a blatant violation of Title IX. It is unquestionably a violation of Title IX."

Baumgartner said Oregon officials began discussing the issue when it first garnered media attention and will put a policy in writing "soon after" the NCAA committee's July meeting.

"The bottom line is, the athletic department as well as university administration have always focused on the bull's-eye - the student-athletes," Baumgartner said. "What we would do, and obviously it's case by case, situation by situation, but we would always side by what was best for the student-athlete."

With decisions currently in the hands of individual coaches, policies at Oregon have differed from sport to sport. The lacrosse staff determined that pregnant athletes would be afforded the opportunity to redshirt. Bev Smith, the women's basketball coach, isn't so explicit. She said her program has no specific policy for addressing pregnancies, the coach preferring to address them on a case-by-case basis.

"On one side of the thing, it's part of the responsibility of a student-athlete and becoming an adult that there are consequences for the choices you make," Smith said. " ... You're here to be a student-athlete, and have to have priorities."

But, Smith said, "we try to do the best thing for the student-athlete."

Smith said she has had one player in her six seasons at Oregon who was pregnant and left the team to be closer to family. Citing privacy issues, the coach declined to name the player; according to published reports, Amy Parrish gave birth less than a year after leaving the UO program in December 2002, due to what were then termed "medical reasons."

Parrish initially moved back to her home town of Hanford, Calif., just south of Fresno.

She was named Northern California's junior college MVP in 2004 at Reedley College, then was a two-time first-team all-conference selection at Fresno State from 2004-06.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.