For the past 33 years, Title IX is a law that has helped women gain a competitive footing both on and off America’s playing fields. Discipline, tenacity, perseverance — values learned in athletic competition — have helped women move on to become doctors, and lawyers.
Title IX, everyone agrees, is about more than just sports. But this spring, the Department of Education issued a memo that appears to relax the rules governing Title IX compliance.
Supporters say this is a step in the right direction, because it will allow schools more flexibility in how they spend their money, and it will prevent men’s programs like wrestling, track, and gymnastics from being cut. But others say these changes will hurt women athletes and hollow out one of the most important civil rights achievements of the last 30 years.
Guests:
Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, President of Women in Cable &
Telecommunications. She has served on the United States Olympic Committee and was a member of the 1980 and 1984 United States Olympic Teams
Karen Blumenthal, Dallas bureau chief for The Washington Post, and the author of “Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX, The Law That Changed the Future of Girls in America”
Eric Pearson, executive director of the college sports council. He wrestled at Princeton, and later coached wrestling at Princeton for four years.