INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA is launching an independent investigation into all of its championships after outcries of apparent disparities between the Men's and Women's Division I basketball tournaments.
In a statement released Thursday, the NCAA president Mark Emmert said, in part:
"The NCAA will continue to aggressively address material and impactful differences between the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships. While many of the operational issues identified have been resolved, we must continue to make sure we are doing all we can to support gender equity in sports."
An outside law firm, Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP — which has significant experience in Title IX and gender equity issues — will conduct the investigation.
The NCAA stated that it hopes to have preliminary results next month with a final report in the summer after all championships are completed.
