I didn’t know about the politics.  I just know I got to play competitive basketball.  And track.  And softball.  I didn’t know about the politics.  I just know when I asked to take shop in 9th grade, the school board let me.  I know I didn’t know, and I don’t think my parents knew the school board HAD to let me.  Why?  Because of 37 words in a piece of educational legislation in 1972.

It’s come to be known as Title IX. It didn’t take 2000 pages of legislative gobbledygook.  It took 37 words.  And it changed everything. I had no idea what the words were or what it said until a couple of days ago when I was wandering around ESPN looking for the Women’s Final Four bracket.  They have a page devoted to Title IX and this post (also linked above).  But you don’t have to go too far for the words that changed women’s lives in so many ways.  They are short enough to quote here:

“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 educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

Part of Education Amendments, President Richard Nixon signed them into law on June 23, 1972.  I was getting ready to enter 7th grade that fall.  By the time I was in 8th grade, I played on my junior high’s inaugural girl’s basketball team.  At the end of my 8th grade year, I asked my school principal if I could take boy’s shop in 9th grade.  He told me to ask in the fall before school started.  I returned in the fall and asked.  He said I would be allowed to take the class on a trial basis. After I  earned an “A” for the first grading period, nothing more was said.  That year, they did a two week swap sending the boys to home ec and the girls to shop, exposing everyone to something a little bit different.

The most interesting thing about Title IX?  It says nothing about athletics or sports.  It applies to ANY educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.  Did you know that?  I didn’t.  And I certainly didn’t expect to learn it via ESPN.  That’s okay, though.