What is Title IX?
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, now known as the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in honor of its principal author, but more commonly known simply as Title IX, is a 37-word United States law enacted on June 23, 1972 that states: "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."[1] Although the most prominent "public face" of Title IX is its impact on high school and collegiate athletics, the original statute made no reference to athletics[2]. The legislation covers all educational activities, and complaints under Title IX alleging discrimination in fields such as science or math education, or in other aspects of academic life such as access to health care and dormitory facilities, are not unheard of. It also applies to non-sports activities such as school bands and cheerleaders.
TITLE IX 1972-2002 GENDER EQUITY?
ARE WE THERE YET?
A CONFERENCE TO CELEBRATE AND EVALUATE
THE EFFECTS OF THIRTY YEARS OF TITLE IX
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2002 4:00PM-10:00PM
THE CELEBRATION
Panel of FEMINIST LEADERS
A Director, Third Wave Foundation
JACQUI CEBALLOS, Pres. Veteran Feminists of America
HELEN DALE, Pres. Maryland Women for Responsive Government
TERRY O”NEILL, V.P. National Organization for Women
ELEANOR SMEAL, Pres. The Feminist Majority
Discussion leader: Pat Reuss, activist,
Violence Against Women
After a reception and dinner, THE VETERAN FEMINISTS of AMERICA will induct into its HALL of FAME: PATSY MINK, who
introduced Title IX in Congress and two Maryland feminists who testified for Title IX– PAULI MURRAY and ANN LONDON
SCOTT— and honor others who helped make it happen : VAL BONETTE, CINDY BROWN, JANET BROWN, NORMAN CANTU, BARBARA
COX, MARGARET DUNKLE, MARCIA GREENBERGER, GWEN GREGORY, MARY ELLEN HILLIARD, JEAN LEDWITH KING, HOLLY KNOX, JULIA
LEAR, MARILYN LEVY, GRACE MASTALLI, MARGOT POLIVY, MARLENE PROVISER, TERY SAARIO, BERNICE SANDLER, TINA SANDI-FLAHARTY,
DONNA SHAVLICK, CLELIA STEELE, MARY JEAN TULLY, DONNA DE VARONA,, LESLIE WOLFE a list still in progress…..
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9th 8:00-4:00 PM
THE EVALUATION
The emphasis is on
small group discussions where you, the participants, will in the morning, grouped by occupation, evaluate the effects
of Title IX on your employment and your lives, and in the afternoon will regroup by remaining problems to be resolved
and their possible remedies.
Sessions morning and afternoon on the
ERA by Karline Tierney. Other discussion leaders and speakers on Saturday are: Lois Herr, Jean Ledwith King, Joan Hult, Bernice Sandler
,Melody Simmons, Sheila Tobias
a list still inprogress……
Holiday Inn Timonium, Baltimore:
From Rte. 83, East on Timonium, 1 mile North of Baltimore 695
Presented by the Veteran Feminists of America
HONORARY CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
BETTY FRIEDAN
Founder of NOW
THE HONORABLE BIRCH BAYH
Introduced the Amendment in Senate
ELIZABETH BOYER
Founder of WEAL
KIM GANDY
President, National Organization for Women
HELEN HOLTON
Baltimore City Council Member
JEAN LEDWITH KING
Lawyer- Worked on Title IX
SENATOR BARBARA MILKULSKI
TERRY O’NEILL
Vice President, NOW, Spokesperson Title IX
TERY SAARIO
Program Officer, Ford Foundation in 1972
BERNICE SANDLER
Premiere activist for initiating Title IX
ELEANOR SMEAL
President – Feminists Majority
GLORIA STEINEM
Founder, Ms Magazine
MARY JEAN TULLY
President NOW LDEF 1970’s
ANN TURPEAU
Women’s Rights Activist,
9yrs.DC Commission on Women
PLAN AIR ARRIVAL at BWI no later than 1:30, prefer EARLIER, but
come early or stay late. Art lovers will be especially happy: Baltimore has three fine galleries: The Walters Museum
of Art, Cone Collection of Impressionist tat BMA, and the relatively new, National Visionary Museum
with annually changing extraordinary shows. . A selected listing of special exhibits currently showing in Baltimore
and DC will be included in your registration acknowledgement packet. Baltimore the city associated with Eubie Blake, Frederick Douglass. Thurgood Marshall, and birthplace of Pauli
Murray has become a destination for people with an interest in black history. If enough interest is indicated,
we might arrange a special tour. Then of course, we do have a fabulous harbor and seafood, Let us know your interests;
we will attempt to help you find them. The Timonium Holiday Inn is located a mile or two north of Baltimore 695
east of I 83. Light rail will take you from the airport to Timonium—over an hour--all the way through town—to a stop three blocks from the hotel. . A cab for about $20 from Penn Station takes about 20 minutes
a bit more from BWI. . Van service for $29 first and $10 each thereafter
from BWI. Advise arranging before hand to come on the same train with, or who
plan to arrive at BWI at the same time as) others heading towards the Title IX Conference.
SEE VETERAN FEMINIST’S WEBFOR UPDATES: http://www.vfa.us
ARE WE THERE YET? TITLE IX:
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN
Presented by THE VETERAN FEMINISTS OF AMERICA
PLANNING COMMITTEE
Betty Newcomb, Chair
TITLE IX APPLIES TO A GREAT DEAL MORE
THAN ATHLETICS AND SPORTS
During the l960’s federal law and executive orders mandated employers to give equal opportunity in employment to
women. But in order to maintain socially desirable male female ratios, boys with lower grades and SAT scores stood
a much better chance of being admitted to coeducational institutions than did girls. Professional schools continued their traditional
quotas—meaning no more than--to
restrict the number of women admitted: about 4% to law school, 8% to medical school, 1%to 4% to all other professional
schools. Federal employment guidelines required equal opportunity for equally qualified candidates. Clearly, women
were denied the opportunity to obtain equal qualifications. And even
if they had equal qualifications, for example, obtaining a Ph.D. as a qualification for teaching in higher education,
hiring, promotion, and salaries of women lagged far behind those of men. Admissions
for girls and women to technical training were minuscule or nonexistent.
In sports, which have drawn the most attention to Title IX, the picture was equally dismal. Girls largely supported
the boys’ teams through cheer leading, cheering blocks, and raising money for the boys. In the event that girls
and women persevered and actually competed athletically, the support given their teams was far less than that given
to boys’ and men’s teams.
COME TO BALTIMORE
LEARN MORE ABOUT TITLE IX
VETERAN FEMINISTS OF AMERICA
Marian D. Daniel
MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Rose Fragua
COMMISSION FOR WOMEN
Phyllis Freeman
WOMEN’S CENTER, TOWSON UNIVERSITY
Lois Herr
VETERAN FEMINISTS OF AMERICA and
ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE
Monica M. Loving
M2 MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
Jessica Morgan
Pres. MD
WOMEN’S LAW CENTER OF MARYLAND
Pam Putman
MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Sue Schlenger
LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS of MARYLAND
Debbie Seeberger
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Aleta Styers
VETERAN FEMINISTS OF AMERICA
Karline Tierney
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN
Athena Yiamouyiannis
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION GIRLS’ & WOMEN’S SPORTS
ADVISORS:
Joanne Orlinsky
MARYLAND COMMMISSION FOR WOMEN, Former Chair
Linda Shevitz
MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Betty Newcomb, EVENT CHAIR,
509 Old Orchard Road, Baltimore, MD 21229 – 2412
(410) 624-3669
Phone or (410) 945-6720 fax (call first)
E-Mail: VFATitleIX@hotmail.com
Hotel double @ $ 79.00 Call (410) 252-7373 direct
A ONE DAY COLLOQUIUM TO CELEBRATE AND EVALUATE
THE EFFECTS OF THIRTY YEARS OF TITLE IX
In order to assure an informed group of participants, upon receipt of registration, each registrant will be sent comparative education and employment information for 1970-2002 and a summary of laws and executive orders. Abbreviated bullets of such information will be included in press releases and call to colloquium materials.
After a keynote speech on the current threats to-Title IX, the emphasis of the 9 am PLENARY SESSION will be to create a MODEL for the attendees to follow in the small group discussions. A highly skilled discussion leader will lead two people, one from an employment area and Athena Yiamouyiannis from athletics will lead a discussion comparing women's education and employment status in 1972 with that of 2002: What was hoped to be accomplished? What are the realities? Where have expectations been met? Not met? Are there unexpected consequences, desirable and undesirable? Can possible remedial actions be identified? By what means could remedial actions be taken? What appropriate government action? Other public action? Group action? Private action?
The 10:45 SESSIONS will be SMALL GROUPS by related fields of occupation or interest. Each group will be led in a discussion modeled on that demonstrated.in the 9 am plenary. Items or concerns will be noted on a central blackboard. The discussion leader will try to identify many specific interests for later discussion. During lunch, the conference planning committee will assign topics for the afternoon sessions that reflect the concerns and interests identified in the morning sessions.
The PLENARY LUNCHTIME SESSION (12:00 to 1:30) will feature a presentation by Bernice Sandler on Title IX, its importance, and how it came about. People present who playedan important role in its enactment and its implementation will be recognized. Lois Herr (whose book on the 1970's ATT action will be released in December) will speak.
The 1:45 to 3:00 SMALL GROUP SESSIONS, expected to be an occupational mix, will focus discussions on identifying possible solutions for the problems identified in the morning small group sessions and be encouraged to form networks for further communication, either through organizations represented on the committee or on their own.
The 3:15-4:30 pm PLENARY will be presented reports from the morning sessions of celebration
worthy results and from the afternoon sessions reports of remaining problems and possible remedies. PRESS CONFERENCE will follow. The Baltimore
event is intended to be a prototype for other similar colloquia in other parts of he country, designed to be followed in 2004 by a national colloquia
to evaluate 40 years of Executive Order 11246 and Title
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FOR MORE INFORMATION ON TITLE IX
VISIT BERNICE SANDLER'S WEBSITE
E-mail Betty Newcomb: VFATitleIX@hotmail.com
VETERAN FEMINISTS OF AMERICA
President: lacqui Ceballos Event Coordinator: Betty Newcomb Treasurer: Amy Hackett
July 23, 2002
The Honorable Barbara Mikulski
The Senate Office Building,
Suite 709 Washington, D. C. 205 1 0
Dear Senator Mikulski:
The Veteran Feminists of America, in cooperation with a number of Maryland women's organizations and state agencies, will "Celebrate and Evaluate the Impact of 30 Years of Title IX" in Timonium on November 8 and 9, 2002. The November 9 Colloquium is to be a prototype for similar events to be initiated by The Veteran Feminists of America in other states to evaluate the effects of federal action taken 1963-1972 to provide gender equity in education and employment. At the November 8 dinner event we will induct into the VFA Hall of Fame two outstanding feminists with Maryland connections: Ann London Scott and Pauli Murray, both of whom contributed to the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
We would like to present you with the Veteran Feminists of America's Special Service award for your continued, long lasting support for women's issues. In a recent E-mail to me, Muriel Fox, Chair of FVA Board, wrote, "Barbara Mikulski marched with us many, many times."
Further, we would be greatly honored if you would be the keynote speaker at the Saturday 9 am plenary session. We hope that you might view a speech to a feminist audience on November 9 to be a timely occasion on which to state your responses to the highly publicized attacks against Title IX from the Bush administration as well in the courts from others. And of course, you are as aware as we are that now almost daily, the evening news clarions new findings of growing employment disparities between men and women who are now guaranteed fair play in admissions by Title IX. Intense efforts will be made to assure that the press be there.
As you read the attached plan for the colloquium, you will see that in this event you (we hope) and Bernice Sandier (the "mother" of Title IX) and probably Lois Herr are the only speakers to talk to the audience. The participants are the major role players in their small groups where they will evaluate thirty years of federally mandated equal opportunity for women and girls. At the 4:00 pm plenary, they will present their recommendations for future action - both governmental and otherwise - to complete the job the VFA members helped start in the mid sixties. The press will be invited. We hope to start a groudd swell of citizen evaluation as we approach the fortieth anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.
Enclosed you will find:
Pauli Murray material, still in preparation, will be forwarded to you at a later date.
I will call your office mid-August when we hope that we will learn that you have granted our request. In the meantime, please contact me with any questions you may have or requests for additional information.
Very sincerely yours,
Betty Newcomb,
VFA Event Coordinator
509 Old Orchard Rd. Baltimore. MD 21229
(410) 945-6720
E-mail: randbnewcomb(@att.net
STATEMENT TO THE PRESS: Title IX Decision
June 11, 2003
Women's Sports Foundation
On June 11, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan dismissed the lawsuit, National Wrestling Coaches Association v. United States Department of Education. The Wrestling Coaches Association maintained that Title IX was the cause of cuts to men's teams and that the three-part test for participation compliance created a quota system.
The court's decision made it clear that Title IX cannot be blamed for cuts to men's teams because educational institutions
make decisions based on multiple unrelated factors. The court also recognized the importance of Title IX, characterizing
it as a "landmark" civil rights statute with implementing policies and significant flexibility built
into the Department of Education's enforcement considerations, thus negating the allegation of "quotas".
The court specifically stated that every federal appellate court that has considered the issue has upheld the Title
IX policies.
Dawn Riley, President of the Women's Sports Foundation stated, "This is absolutely the right decision. It
reflects the intent of the law, the fact that the public wants our sons and daughters to be treated fairly and
equitably and it allows everyone to focus on moving forward to achieve the promise of Title IX. The Women's Sports
Foundation applauds the court's decision."
Specifically, the court stated that the wrestlers failed to show that Title IX was the cause of men's teams being
dropped and that even if Title IX were altered, these teams would not be reinstated. The court stated that Title
IX's policies provide schools with
flexibility to decide how to structure their athletics programs, and that many factors go into these decisions,
in addition to equal opportunity principles.
The court also noted that Title IX was enacted to remedy discrimination against women and girls and that it is
a "landmark" civil rights statute. Girls still receive 1.1 million fewer high school and 58,000 fewer
college athletic participation opportunities and more than $133 million less in college athletic scholarships.
The National Women's Law Center wrote the amicus brief to which the Women's Sports Foundation signed on. The National
Wrestling Coaches Association has 60 days to appeal to the D.C. Circuit. However, for the moment, this decision
removes any external rationale (i.e., avoidance of a lawsuit) for the Secretary of Education to take action to
alter the Title IX compliance guidelines.
The Foundation, along with other members of the Coalition for Women and Girls in Education,
calls upon the Secretary to vigorously enforce Title IX and cease efforts to weaken the compliance policies and
guidelines.