50 Years of Title IX
“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.
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Title IX of the Civil Right Act was signed into law on June 23, 1972, by President Richard Nixon. This landmark law has removed barriers and expanded the opportunities women and girls have in sports. At the West Michigan Sports Commission, we see the positive impact of Title IX every day in the events we host in our community – from the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field National Championship in May with our friends at Grand Valley State University to the Meijer LPGA Classic in June. During the 50th anniversary month of Title IX, we want to acknowledge and celebrate what Title IX means to women across West Michigan. We've invited some of our partners, community members, and staff to share their stories.
Shelley Irwin
Title IX means to me...this opportunity to step up to the plate, the free throw line,
the start of a MARATHON, the start of a WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TRIATHLON without worry, fear, or judgement.
Emerging as a young athlete IN 1972, (age 12) and seeing progression OF opportunity to TODAY's 12 year old is astonishing and yet, a huge thank you to those who fought for this Title and this platform to compete.
What I've achieved THROUGH sports with this Title IX is a foundation for life's physical fitness at a younger age, sealed as the groundwork needed for mental, social and emotional fitness wellbeing experienced today and forecasted for my later years!
So many goals on the list moving forward.
Katy Tigchelaar
Title IX has shaped athletics in my family. It gave my mom the opportunity to attend college as an athlete playing volleyball and running track and field while attaining her teaching degree. That opportunity taught her the skills to pass on to me, her daughter, to do the same thing 20 years later at the same institution, Calvin University. We both are privileged to have played 4 years of college volleyball, while attaining our bachelor’s degrees as it has shaped us to be the strong women we are today.
Sandi Frost Steensma
A picture tells a thousand words. When I look back at the pictures taken in my high school yearbooks, it is possible to see the progression of Title IX in my tennis team pictures. I first made the tennis team at Forest Hills Northern in the Fall of 1972, the first year the school was open and just months after Title IX became law. It was my sophomore year and we only had one team. Unlike boys sports, there was no junior varsity team to start my tennis journey. Nonetheless, with great excitement, our small band started the proud tennis tradition that has marked these past fifty years at Forest Hills Northern.
It didn’t take us long to discover that woman’s sports were not treated the same as men’s sports. In addition to the lack of a Junior Varsity team to help hone our skills before our junior/senior years, we also didn’t have uniforms. We played our matches in our gym clothes. Though humiliating, our gym clothes had some measure of uniformity of color and logo. But they were clearly not the clothes that one wore when one played a tennis tournament! We watched Chrissie Evert and Billie Jean King on television and our gym clothes were not the crisp white tennis dresses that were the rage of our age. That seemed like a small matter when, at the end of the season at the All Sports Banquet, those that achieved their Varsity letter received a tennis charm (which of course assumed we all had charm bracelets) instead of the expected Varsity letter that every boy received that earned their Varsity letter.
Bolstered by the knowledge that this wonderful law had passed and empowered by our disappointment at not receiving our earned Varsity letters, we bitterly complained about both our lack of uniforms and our charms. We were assured that these wrongs would be righted the following year. The budget had been expended for the year and we would not be receiving the hoped-for Varsity letters in the Fall of 1972, law or no law.
As we moved into our Junior year, we were told that the strained budget meant that we would still not receive uniforms, but those that earned our Varsity letters would receive them at the All Sports Banquet at the end of the year. We were happy that we would receive our letters, but since we didn’t have uniforms, we took our Fall 1973 tennis team picture in our street clothes. I love that picture in the yearbook. Making a statement, we stood tall, members of a team, unified in our desire to play in uniforms and be treated as equals. Then, at the end of the season at the All Sports Banquet, our hopes for equal treatment were again dashed, when we received a beautiful script letter N and not the powerful block letter N the boys received when they earned their letters.
Again, we complained about our unequal treatment and at last, our entreaties were rewarded. In our Fall 1974 Tennis Team picture, in my Senior year, we proudly stand wearing our tennis white uniforms. And, at our last All Sports Banquet, those of us that earned our Varsity letters were rewarded with a block N, exactly the same as the boys received. I still have my Varsity letter, a saved momento of a tiny, but memorable fight for equality in women’s sports. A fight that was taken on by hundreds of thousands of women around the country in those early days of Title IX.
Years later, when my stepdaughter and my niece played high school tennis and had the option to play on Junior Varsity teams to hone their skills, had uniforms, great coaches and the ability to earn Varsity letters and college scholarships, I think back on that tiny little fight for the very same things and know that it made all the difference.
Keri Becker
What Title IX means to me in one word is “opportunity”. Those 37 words gave people the opportunity to do the right thing, to do the equitable thing. On one hand, it is shameful we need a law that tells us to not discriminate, and yet even with this law, discrimination happens daily. This is the reality, however it does not diminish the “opportunity” we all still have to create a world that is more equitable. As the athletic director of the highly successful Grand Valley State University, I cannot ignore that it was this law, that the women before me stood their ground upon, is what gave me the “opportunity” to hold this position today. Though the law was clear, the fight was real for it to be acknowledged, let alone enforced. Today, women have the “opportunity” to hold these positions, not because of the law by itself, but because of the women who took the “opportunity” to fight for the equity it was meant to provide. Title IX inspires me to make the most of the “opportunity” provided to me and ensure I do the work to create these same “opportunities” for the women who come after me.
Photo by Amanda Pitts
Julie Shields
Title 9 has impacted me since I was three years old, begging to be put on a soccer team. The opportunities given to me through Title 9 have shaped me as an athlete and as a sports industry professional, and has made me the best version of myself. I felt like I was acutely aware of the privilege I had being a college soccer player and getting to compete in a sport I loved at a high level. My love of sports continued to follow me after I graduated where I now have the chance to provide playing opportunities to even more girls and women through my role at the State Games of Michigan. Without Title 9, I would have a vastly different life than the one I lead now.
Alyssa Bey
Title IX has allowed me to participate and be passionate about any sport I’ve wanted to play. From elementary school to college, I’ve been able to travel the country and meet some of my closest friends because of women teams being available. I’ve also been able to coach young girls and share my passion for sports with them. All my life I have been encouraged to be involved in sports, and without the passing of Title IX that would not have been the case. Without these experiences I’m not sure where I would be today, or what kind of person I would have become.
Deb Kay
Growing up I was a tomboy and played every made up sport imaginable in the neigborhood. Organized sports were not really an option as they are for kids today. I did get to play Field Hockey in college, which was a club sport. While Title IX was not in place for me to benefit from in high school, it did open up opportunities for female officials while I was in college. I took a referee class and became a softball, football and volleyball referee for MHSAA. As an adult I have played softball, racquetball, tennis and now pickleball!
Diane Jones
I was two years old when Title IX started. I’m grateful to have had the opportunities to play basketball, volleyball, tennis, swimming and softball while growing up between a swimming and tennis club and middle school. I went to Mercy High School in Farmington Hills and was there when Meg Mallon attended too. I started golfing at 24 years old for recreation and it’s still fun to play! Let’s support all sports because so many life lessons are learned from these experiences that make us all, better people which makes our world a better place.
Emily Brieve
Growing up a decade after Title IX was passed, I had the benefit of playing a variety of sports that previous generations didn't have. I played Cutlerville Little League Softball and middle school Volleyball at Cutlerville Christian. In high school, I ran the hurdles and played basketball at South Christian High School. While at Calvin University, I played club Lacrosse. Basketball was my favorite. I loved the fast pace and connecting with my teammates. Being a competitive athlete and part of a team taught me many life lessons, including persevering through challenging situations. I am grateful for the opportunity to play sports and I will always cherish the memories made with my teammates and coaches.
