Thanks to Patsy T. Mink

Along with family, friends, and Stanford basketball, we should be thankful for legislation commonly known as 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 pictured above) is a 37-word United States law enacted on June 23, 1972 that states:

“No person in the U.S shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal aid.”

Before Title IX, many colleges and universities refused to admit women since it was felt that women were more concerned about marriage and children than higher education. The effect of the Title IX legislation on access to higher education for women was remarkable. According to the University of Iowa’s source library, in 1994 women received 38% of medical degrees as compared with only 9% in 1972; 43% of law degrees as compared with 7%; and 44% of all doctoral degrees to U.S. citizens as compared with 25% with 1972.

Although our student athletes may profess to understand Title IX, frequently they are surprised to learn that this legislation affects their admission to law and medical school as well as their basketball time at Stanford.

As remarkable as the increase in educational access for women is, it is not across the board in all disciplines: in many cases women still lag behind men in earning doctoral and professional degrees, particularly in nontraditional disciplines such as math and science. Women receive, for example, only 18% of undergraduate engineering degrees and 12% of doctoral engineering degrees, due in part to the hostile environment some face in these fields. (A question for our Stanford engineer, Morgan Clyburn?!)

Congresswoman Patsy T. Mink (known simply as “Patsy T” in Hawaii) wrote the legislation as an outgrowth of the adversities she faced in obtaining her college degrees at the University of Hawaii, University of Nebraska, and University of Chicago. Mink was particularly inspired to write the legislation because 12 medical schools denied her application for admission. She was also, however, aware of the inequalities present in student athletics obtaining what was fair across the board.

Fun quiz: Who was the University of Hawaii's women's athletic director in the early 1970's?
Last week's quiz: Who is the single game high scorer in Stanford's history?
Answer: Kate Starbird has the single game scoring record of 44 points against USC. Kate was recently inducted into the Stanford Hall of Fame.