Thirty-five years after Title IX changed the landscape for women academically and athletically, women’s athletics pioneer Bev Smith had one message for guests in the Club at Autzen Stadium Tuesday night: Keep going.
“Ladies, we are now torch bearers for this legislation,” said Smith.
More than 200 guests gathered to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark legislation that mandated no person in the U.S. can be “excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”
Fellow speaker Dr. Joan Acker, a professor emeritus of Oregon’s sociology department since 1966 made clear the hurdles women still face.
“We still don’t have equity,” said Acker. “I want to be very clear about that.”
According to Acker, men still receive more than $133 million more in college athletic scholarships than women each year.
More than 53,500 girls participated in high school athletics in Oregon last year, and as a voice of that generation, junior point guard Tamika Nurse pointed out the gratitude she owes to those that came before her.
“I always thought it was part of my birthright to be educated,” said Nurse. “I was completely oblivious to the fact that this was not always true.”
Smith, the current head coach of the Oregon women’s basketball team, was one of six speakers at the gathering, who followed the theme of past, present and future. It was fitting that Smith spoke, because upon her arrival to campus in 1978 from Canada – only months after the legislation became law – she became one of the first stars for women’s sports at Oregon. Smith was a two time All-American for the women’s basketball team in 1981 and 1982 and is a member of the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame and three Olympic teams.
“This year is an opportunity to celebrate the differences that Title IX has made in the lives of all women. These opportunities changed how women thought of themselves and how the world began to think of women.”
From the early days of the 1950s, when speaker Dr. Lois Youngen noted that women’s opportunities meant intramurals and “play days,” women’s athletics have grown to organizations that allow women the chance to participate in athletics from the youth to professional level.
Youngen was a physical education instructor at Oregon when the legislation was passed in 1972 and helped oversee the $12,452 budget for the Women’s Recreation Association, one of the numerous precursors to the current day NCAA. It wasn’t until 1977 that the women’s and men’s athletic departments merged into the entity Oregon fans know today.
Currently, nine of Oregon’s 17 Division I intercollegiate teams are for women, not including the addition of competitive cheerleading next year.
Nurse closed the night with a challenge to the current era of Oregon players.
“I ask you to recognize the women who have gone before you,” said Nurse. “It is these women who have fought the struggle to give us this chance.”
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