A guest posting today from the latest addition to our West Wing Writers team, Julia Lam:
Thirty-seven years ago today, President Richard Nixon signed Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 into law, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity. While Title IX applies to nearly all aspects of federally funded education programs, it has most often been evoked in the context of athletics.
Before Title IX, one girl in 27 played high school sports; now it’s one in 2.5. The number of women participating in college sports has increased more than fivefold.
However, women receive $148 million less in athletic scholarship funds each year. Women represent only 18.3 percent of college athletic directors. And beyond athletics, women earn just 78 cents for every dollar men make, represent only 16.8 percent of Congress, and make up only 17 percent of tenure track faculty in the sciences. There is still more work to be done.
This afternoon, the Obama White House will host a roundtable discussion on Title IX’s achievements and current issues surrounding its enforcement. Participants will include Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and a number of female athletes, including Marissa Coleman of our own Washington Mystics (a team whose president and managing partner, Sheila Johnson, is the only African-American woman to claim ownership of three professional sports teams). You can watch live at WhiteHouse.gov.
How have others paid tribute to Title IX over the years?
When Bill Clinton signed a 1997 memorandum strengthening Title IX, he spoke about Title IX as an enabler, not a creator, of women’s success: “We are here to celebrate Title IX, but even more, we’re here to celebrate the God-given talent of every woman and girl who has been benefited by it. Title IX did not create their successes, but it did give them the chance to make the most of their abilities.”
From the 2008 campaign trail, Sarah Palin said, “I can’t imagine where I’d be without the opportunities provided to me in sports.” She spoke about playing on her state championship-winning high school basketball team, and she told Charlie Gibson, “I’m a Title IX girl.”
In 2007, Congresswoman Mazie Hirono (D-HI) testified on Title IX’s impact and how it came to be known as the Patsy T. Mink Equality in Education Act, asserting, “Title IX is as necessary today as it was in 1972.”
More: John Tierney at the New York Times highlighted the increasing federal attention on Title IX and the sciences. CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour argued that sports should play a role in every girl’s life. And UN Ambassador Susan Rice reports that her lessons in diplomacy began on the high school basketball court.
