Saint Mary's College Presents Title IX 40 Years Later: The Promise and Challenge of Gender Equity in Athletics

In honor of its 40th anniversary, this year St. Mary's College's Graduate Program in Kinesiology will devote its four-day summer colloquium to Title IX, the 1972 mandate prohibiting discrimination based on sex in educational institutions receiving federal financial assistance.  In particular, the colloquium will be devoted to issues related to gender equity in athletics. 

In large part due to Title IX, the participation rate of girls and women in sports is at its highest ever.  However, women are still underrepresented in athletic administration and girls in low income, urban communities have not reaped the benefits of Title IX to the same degree as their counterparts in suburban or rural communities. Additionally, Title IX’s compliance requirements have often been misunderstood and its detractors have blamed Title IX when men’s sports teams have been eliminated from interscholastic or intercollegiate athletic programs.

Accordingly, in addition to celebrating this significant milestone, the purpose of the colloquium will be to situate girls and women in sport today within an historical context, and to interrogate the original intent of the law, its required compliance procedures and practices, its intended and unintended consequences, and its limitations.  A group of leading scholars and professionals will be invited to campus to address the department's graduate students and the community at large.  All are welcome.

Monday, June 11

Before Title IX: Women's Sport History

• Alison Wrynn, Ph.D., California State University, Long Beach
• Maureen Smith, Ph.D., California State University, Sacramento

Tuesday, June 12

Title IX Explained: Understanding and Analyzing its Requirements

• Sarah Fields, Ph.D., J.D., The Ohio State University 

Wednesday, June 13

Title IX and Athletic Administration: Double Edged Sword

• Sandy Barbour, MA, MBA, University of California, Berkeley
• Teresa K. Gould, MA, University of California, Berkeley
• Ted Leland, Ph.D., University of the Pacific

Thursday, June 14

Fair Play for Girls in Sports: Title IX’s Promise of Equality for Low Income Girls

• Tamika Butler, J.D., The Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center  

KINES 280 Colloquium Poster (2012).pdf