In what advocates for gender equity in college athletics called a victory, the Supreme Court refused yesterday to hear Brown University's appeal of lower court rulings that found that Brown had discriminated against female athletes.

The high court's action was not an official decision and therefore sets no legal precedent for other colleges, but it could send an important message.

The denial of Brown's appeal leaves in effect a ruling from last November by the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston that Brown had violated Title IX, the 1972 code that bans gender discrimination in education.

The appeals court's interpretation of the law required parity between the percentage of women athletes in a school, and the percentage of women in its student body--known as the proportionality test.

Brown had argued that it was complying with Title IX by offering the same number of men's and women's teams. In 1993, 38 percent of Brown's athletes were women, compared with 51 percent of its students.

"Overall, across the country, it's a big decision," said Harvard women's softball head coach Jenny Allard. "It's going to give weight to everything we're trying to do [to support women's athletics]."

Brown spokesperson Mark Nickel said yesterday that the court's action constituted "neither a loss nor a win" for Brown.

"It doesn't represent in any sense the thinking of the Supreme Court on the case," Nickel said.

Nickel said that the appeals court's proportionality test for Title IX compliance is ambiguous.

"It's never been accurately defined," he said.

Even before learning of the Supreme Court's action, Brown officials filed for a federal judge's approval of its plan for Title IX compliance yesterday.

The new plan calls for increasing the number of varsity team positions available to female athletes to bring the gender ratios of Brown athletes to within less than 1 percent of the gender ratio of Brown's student body.

Harvard athletic officials said that the actions against Brown have no direct effect on athletics at Harvard.

"Our concern is how we [at Harvard] do things," said Director of Sports Information John P. Veneziano.

"We want to make sure that we do things that are in compliance with Title IX and make sure we do things the right way," he said.

Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 said yesterday in an e-mail message that he is "confident" that Harvard is in compliance with Title IX.