The Legacy Of Title IX
Fifty years after it was passed, the legislation has opened doors for women.
IN MARCH 1972, the first women’s college basketball national tournament was held. It was staged by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women and won by tiny Immaculata, a school of 750 or so students outside of Philadelphia. To raise the nearly $3,000 they needed to travel to Illinois for the tournament, players sold buttons that read we’re going to be number one. we try harder.
A month earlier, Senator Birch Bayh had introduced legislation that would go a long way toward creating a system in which players wouldn’t have to sell knickknacks for the chance to compete for a championship. The act became known as Title IX. It compelled schools to offer women the same opportunities as men.
Title IX was signed into law that summer, but it had to withstand several challenges from administrators who were worried it would harm football and men’s basketball programs.
In the 50 years since, Title IX has succeeded in creating opportunities for women in sports. As recently as 1981, fewer than 30,000 women participated in college athletics. By 2021 that number was 219,000. And high schools have seen girls’ participation increase by more than 1,000%.
Of course, there is still work to be done. That was made evident in 2021 when pictures of the poor conditions at the women’s Final Four went viral.
But as former Texas women’s athletic director and Title IX advocate Donna Lopiano points out, there’s more to sports than just playing. A majority of female corporate executives, for example, played sports, helping them acquire the leadership skills to break into the old-boys’ club. Says Lopiano, “The cultural impact of equal opportunity for women in sport extends well beyond sport.”
“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.”
Text of Title IX