March is notorious for its madness. This year is no exception. A school called Oral Roberts is in the Sweet 16, Abilene Christian knocked out a powerhouse school from the same state as a 14 seed and Sister Jean’s Ramblers sent a number one seed packing again with their 71-58 victory over Illinois. 

Cinderella stories are nice and all, but this season hasn’t been about glass slippers. It’s been about glass ceilings.

One of Stanford University’s sports performance coaches, Ali Kershernor, posted a photo online comparing the women’s weight room set-up to the men’s. The image spread like wildfire. Sedona Prince, Oregon’s starting forward and viral Tik Tok star, posted a video on her social media platforms showcasing the disparities not only between the gyms, but also between the food and gear given to the athletes at the respective tournaments. That video has over 8.3 million views. 

The responses came pouring in. Athletes, celebrities, fans and even those with no connection to the sport joined in to express their disappointment in the NCAA and in support of the female student athletes. 

Unsurprisingly, not all messages were positive. Former NBA player Nick Young commented on an ESPN post saying, “Man y’all not bringing in the big bucks y’all the JV team and it’s cool.” 

Let me break down Swaggy P’s remarks. Yes, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is historically the largest stream of revenue for the NCAA, raking in hundreds of millions towards the organization’s billion dollar revenue. But, no, the women’s teams are not “JV,” and no, this is not cool.

After a year dedicated to social activism and change, these kinds of gender discrimination mistakes by an organization supposedly dedicated to promoting equality in sports across the board is unacceptable. The NCAA Vice President of Women’s Basketball Lynn Holzman issued a statement apologizing for the shortage of resources, chalking their shortcomings up to, a lack of space — not money. Mark Emmert, president of the NCAA, has yet to make a comment. 

The NCAA is entangled in a number of controversial situations, including the discussion surrounding amateurism and the inability for players to profit off their name, image and likeness. The NCAA uses concerns of unbalanced power, resources and funds as reasons to prevent its athletes from the same basic rights that students involved in any other extracurricular activity are afforded. After what we’ve seen out of San Antonio and Indianapolis this past week, it doesn’t seem like they’re the governing body that should be the poster child of equality. 

My freshman year at Fordham, my dad drove up from North Carolina to watch my teammates and I on the softball team here win our sixth consecutive Atlantic 10 Conference Championship. Before the game, he went to the campus bookstore to buy some softball gear, especially since we were hosting the tournament at Bahoshy field that year. They had nothing. The only signs in the store were promoting the Football team’s spring scrimmage — in which the guys on the team play each other. 

Title IX was officially introduced in 1972. It stated that no person 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 activy receiving federal financial assistance. It’s 2021. I can’t believe I have to write this but women more than deserve the same treatment as men. It’s getting ridiculous. NCAA, do better.