37 Words for 47 weeks

Tuesday, National Girls and Women in Sports Day, also was World Read Aloud Day and the second day of National Library Lovers Month. That’s a hodgepodge, I admit. But it’s perhaps a fitting way to introduce the first of a series of weekly blog posts honoring this 50th year of Title IX, the revolutionary law that prohibits sex discrimination in education and is the subject of my book 37 Words.

If you haven’t already, subscribe to my blog “37 Words” and you’ll get a weekly note in your email inbox with a hodgepodge of my takes on a variety of topics. I’ll comment on current events, informed by my seven-year study of Title IX history. I’ll compile a curated list of Title IX-related stories from around the country in the previous week. I study the news feeds so you get just the best news nuggets. Title IX battles rage on today — it’s not just history.

You’ll also find news of my upcoming appearances, both live and virtual, as my book nears publication on April 12. And I’ll joyfully share recommendations for other fine books and events happening this year.

If I hit my weekly blogging goal, you’ll get 37 Words posts for the remaining 47 weeks of 2022. Let’s get started!

Oh, Michigan

That’s the Class of 1903 women’s basketball team at the University of Michigan in the lead photo of this post. (Courtesy of the University of Michigan / Wikimedia Commons.) Michigan was the first public university investigated by the federal government for sex discrimination in education in 1970, one of the actions that led to Title IX’s passage in 1972.

Michigan is a slow learner, apparently. In January it agreed to pay $490 million to the many survivors (most of them men) of sexual abuse for decades by Michigan athletics doctor Robert Anderson. Now the university’s hockey program is being investigated for allegations of creating a “toxic culture” for women on staff, retaliating against a student for raising concerns, and knowing about Anderson’s abuse but not stopping it.

Eight former students announced they’ll be suing the University of Michigan for tolerating a predatory professor who harassed and raped women there for years.

Also this month, the University of Michigan fired its president for having an affair with a subordinate. He’s not necessarily gone, though. University officials offered him teaching and research positions.

For a detailed account of women’s uprisings and legal maneuvers at Michigan in 1970, check out Sara Fitzgerald’s book Conquering Heroines: How Women Fought Sex Bias at Michigan and Paved the Way for Title IX (University of Michigan Press, 2020)

Meanwhile, over at Michigan State University, the interim director of its Native American Institute sued MSU for sexual harassment and discrimination.

Elsewhere

An assistant athletics administrator at Louisiana State University filed a $50 million racketeering lawsuit against LSU. She says she was denied pay raises, verbally abused, and ultimately fired in retaliation for reporting sexual harassment of female student workers and racist remarks by LSU’s football coach and players.

An elementary school teacher in Utah sued the Park City School District for retaliation after she was demoted and transferred because, she says, she reported a boy for sexually harassing girls.

Politicians behind laws in 10 states that bar transgender athletes from participating in competitive sports usually claim the laws are intended to “protect” cisgender girls and women from unfair competition with transgender girls, who may have some traits of male bodies. Why, then, do some of these laws also ban transgender boys from competing against cisgender boys? Sports Illustrated explores the contradictions. I’ll have more to say about the issue of transgender athletes in a future blog post.

To the surprise of absolutey no one, men athletes are raking in far more money than women under new “Name, Image, and Likeness” rules that allow athletes to accept some fees. Though people claim this isn’t covered under Title IX because the deals are between athletes and advertisers and don’t involve athletics departments, we’ll see about that. If college or university officials play any role in connecting players with NIL deals, Title IX would count, I think. Courts already have said that money from boosters must be shared fairly between men’s and women’s programs under Title IX, so NIL deals might too.

Families sued a Minnesota school district, claiming persistent harassment based on race and sex in schools that serve students in Rockville, Cold Spring, and Richmond, Minn. (known as ROCORI schools).

We’ve seen a spate of walk-outs by high school students this year to raise awareness of sexual harassment and assault and inadequate responses by school districts. The latest was at South County High School, Lorton, Va.

Two men athletes sued Brown University in Rhode Island for not following fair procedures when they were suspended in 2021 after being accused of sexual assault.

On the up side

The federal Department of Education has started undoing some of the onerous rules for Title IX begun by the Trump Administration. Ithaca College says this already is making a difference, though the Department has been criticized by activist groups for being too slow to rollback Trump’s rules. Broader proposed changes are expected in May.

A federal appeals court ruled for the first time that universities have a responsibility to deal with sexual harassment and assault against students even when the assailant is not a student. The heartbreaking case came out of Millersville University in Pennsylvania.

Sexist remarks by a professor at Boise State University in Idaho went viral and inspired a woman student to start a scholarship for women studying science, technology, engineering, or medicine (STEM fields). It went viral too. At last count, she had raised more than $139,000.

The Women’s Sports Foundation launched virtual 5K and 50-mile “Challenges” to celebrate girls and women in sports and Title IX’s anniversary.

The NCAA also plans a year of events to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Like the University of Michigan, they’ve got a lot of room for improvement. Let’s hope it’s not all talk but action too.

Winter is the perfect time to celebrate 20 Black women making history in hockey.

Wisconsin crowned its first 12 state champions in girls’ wrestling.

And all of that is pretty much in just the past week!

Where you’ll find me

I’ll be speaking on a virtual panel at the American Historical Association in February. I’ll also be leading a two-hour Zoom class on Title IX history for the Osher Center for Lifelong Learning at Dartmouth this month. On April 2 I’ll be in Boston speaking on a panel at the Organization of American Historians conference.

And I’m cooking up some events for April on both the east and west coasts to celebrate the publication of 37 Words. Stay tuned for more on those!

You’ll find links to preorder 37 Words: Title IX and Fifty Years of Fighting Sex Discrimination here. Preorders are so helpful! Thanks for your support.