Was USC’s Title IX celebration gaffe a symbol or simple mistake?

The Gamecock football team wasn’t the only thing to take a hit during Saturday’s game against Georgia.

The University of South Carolina’s reputation got a smack after a blunder during what was supposed to be a celebration of women athletes at the school and Title IX, the landmark national legislation that mandated “no person in the United States 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 activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

Was the entire gaffe a symbol of the historic disregard for women athletes and sexism generally? Or was the situation just poor timing and communication, nothing more than a simple mistake.

It was both.

Anyone interpreting this moment as nothing but a miscalculation of timing is missing the larger picture. Anyone seizing on it as a symbol of USC’s disregard of women athletes and sports is ignoring facts. It’s not one thing or the other but an amalgamation.

USC tried to honored all 275 of its women athletes on the Williams-Brice Stadium field after the first quarter during the football team’s game with No. 1 Georgia, as The State’s Ben Portnoy reported. The ceremony was part of the school’s ongoing celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX’s passage.

The problem was that getting 275 people on and off the field took longer than the approximately four minutes between the quarters, delaying the game during a crucial play for the Gamecocks. As a commentator noted, the Georgia defense had time to see the Gamecock’s scheme and plan for it. In probably the most cringe worthy moment, the cameras honed in on Gamecock coach Shane Beamer, who was irate and waving his arms through the air, yelling “Get off the field” to the women athletes. After the game, he explained he didn’t know what was going on or who the students were on the field.

USC relegated a celebration of its women athletes and Title IX’s 50th anniversary to the time between the quarters? That’s a sign of disrespect.

It should have been a half-time celebration.

At halftime, the Gamecock women’s basketball team was honored for winning the national championship in April. That’s awesome. It shows USC’s appreciation for women’s sports.

But USC should have given the same reverence to the entirety of the school’s women’s sports. If such a moment couldn’t fit into halftime of that particular game game, do it during another game.

Who came up with the genius idea that 275 people could be hustled on and off the field in about four minutes? That’s a logistical nightmare created by poor planning.

For some of the women athletes, the moment was likely interpreted as a symbol of disrespect, and rightfully so.

In a social media post that blew up, USC women’s soccer player Jyllissa Harris responded to the situation. “We were on the field for maybe 15 seconds then screamed at to get off,” Harris wrote. “If you want to honor female student athletes, then do that, not this.”

Later she posted, “If you want to ‘honor’ female student athletes (then) an actual effort needs to be put into doing that. Don’t just do something to check a box.”

Harris nailed it. If you’re going to do something to celebrate women athletes, do it right. Anything less is a symbol of apathy.

USC and Athletic Director Ray Tanner have shown immense support for women’s sports, and the school’s celebrating Title IX this year reinforces their support. What other college athletic departments aren’t doing that? Probably plenty of them. Tanner and the school have supported women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, a vocal advocate for women’s basketball who is also not afraid to tackle social issues.

School administrators have given women’s soccer coach Shelley Smith the resources to create a nationally competitive soccer program. All indications point to USC and Tanner supporting women’s sports.

Tanner explained the Saturday situation as a simple mistake in timing.

“It was simply a miscalculation of the amount of time that we had between quarters,” Tanner said Monday during an interview on 107.5 FM’s “Halftime Show” with Jay Phillips, Terry Ford and Tommy Moody. “It’s our fault as a department and marketing that we didn’t have enough time.”

Tanner explained that Beamer didn’t know the celebration was going to happen, and Beamer said he didn’t know who was down there.

Not communicating with the head coach about a celebration of women athletes is a mistake and a symbol. Beamer should know what’s going on and USC’s game-day planners should care enough to tell him. A celebration of women athletes should not be relegated to something between football plays. That should be an all-hands-on-deck event.

Beamer gave a sincere apology for his actions. It’s ridiculous to speculate whether Beamer supports women’s sports. From all indications, he does.

Staley and Smith have issued statements supporting Beamer, saying there’s no doubt he champions women’s sports, as have other women who coach USC teams.

What happened between the quarters on Saturday was a logistical mistake that created a symbol of disrespect for women athletes. USC also created a chance to evaluate how it not only talks about support for women athlete’s but show that support.