Exhibit displays history of Title IX activism
Readers of my book 37 Words know that its story arcs follow the history of Title IX activism. If you’re anywhere near New York City between now and September 4, you can see a more visual representation of this in a new exhibit by the New York Historical Society, “Title IX: Activism On and Off the Field.”
At a preview reception this week, I had the pleasure of meeting Title IX activists of all ages. Some I knew and had interviewed but never met, such as Rollin Haffer. She instigated the first Title IX lawsuit claiming sex discrimination in an entire college athletics program, filed on behalf of eight plaintiffs representing every women’s team at Temple University in the early 1980s. Unfortunately, a case more hostile to Title IX reached the Supreme Court before Haffer’s, and the high court decimated Title IX and other civil rights laws in education. Activists pushed Congress to pass the Civil Rights Restoration Act four years later (over President Reagan’s veto) to ensure civil rights covered entire schools.
More recently, Alejandra Melgoza, and Melissa Vasquez, and Lexi Weyrick started a 13-hour sit-in at the office of the chancellor of the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2016 to push for better management of complaints about sexual assaults. What a joy to meet Weyrick at the New York exhibit!
Other activists who I knew well from researching my book were not physically there but their presence is felt in the exhibit’s photos and displays. Bernice Sandler, Margaret Dunkle, Ann Olivarius, Pamela Price, Ronni Alexander, Billie Jean King, Andrea Pino-Silva, Annie Clark, and so many more. Through “Take Back the Night” posters and other artifacts, viewers also get a feel for the thousands and thousands of anonymous activists who propel the civil rights movements that utilize Title IX.
(New Haven Advocate photo from the exhibit)
I’m pleased to have contributed to the exhibit by sending the curators an advance copy of my book last summer and connecting them with many of the activists in 37 Words. Stop by the New York Historical Society museum this summer to get a feel for the human stories in Title IX’s half-century of history. It’s an ongoing story. You may be a part of it going forward.
Elsewhere
Wenatchee (Wash.) High School may have to cough up millions to fix longstanding discrimination against girls’ athletics teams. Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. could face hugh fines for allegedly violating the Clery Act.
Marshall (Mo.) High School students protesting the school’s handling of sexual assault complaints walked out for a third straight day despite threatened repercussions. Students at California State University, San Jose demonstrated too, demanding more protection against sexual assault. Administrators at six California State University campuses engaged in sexually harassing or abusive behaviors, a release of records showed.
A federal judge dismissed four plaintiffs and allowed two women to proceed in their lawsuit against the University of Nevada, Lincoln claiming the school inadequately responded to complaints of sexual harassment and assault by male athletes. A University of Michigan president who lost his job for having a sexual relationship with a subordinate apologized as part of a settlement agreement that lets him keep a faculty job and benefits. A doctor fired by Texas A&M University for sexual misconduct now faces criminal charges for sexually assaulting patients. An appeals court dismissed a lawsuit by a student who was expelled by the University of Albany, N.Y. for sexual misconduct.
LGBTQ+ college students are more likely to be sexually harassed and bullied compared with non-queer students, a national study found. Three high school students in Three Pine River Area Schools, Osceola County, Mich. who bullied others at a football camp received discipline ranging from athletic suspension to expulsion.
Basketball great and former coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke has been accused by multiple former players of verbal sexual abuse, allegedly avoiding a Title IX investigation by retiring early.
On the up side
Of interest to people in the Washington, D.C. area, this news comes from longtime Title IX activist Margaret Dunkle: “The Woman’s National Democratic Club is hosting a celebratory party for Title IX’s 50th anniversary on Tuesday, June 21, starting at 6:30 p.m., followed by Watch Parties for the first two parts of the new Trilogy Films/ESPN documentary on Title IX. Details and registration information should be on the WNDC website soon. The WNDC address is 1536 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, in DC, just off Dupont Circle.”
Where you’ll find me
May 26, 6:30 p.m. PT — A virtual get-together with the Riverside, Calif. chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW).
June 9, 7:00 p.m. PT — Joine me and Lucy Jane Bledsoe, author of the new Young Adult novel No Stopping Us Now, at a virtual event hosted by Green Apple Books on the Park, San Francisco.
June 14, 6:00 p.m. ET — I’ll be in Washington, D.C. for a Title IX 50th Anniversary event hosted by the National Women’s Law Center. I’ll be there with NWLC President Fatima Goss Graves and legendary Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes. Stay tuned for details.
June 22 — Lucy Jane Bledsoe and I will Zoom with residents of Rossmoor, Walnut Creek, Calif.
June 23, 3:00-4:30 p.m. ET — It’s Title IX’s 50th birthday! I’ll be Zooming with members of the Association of Title IX Administrators (ATIXA) to celebrate. Read details here. And watch a 30-second promo video with moi here.
Read about the Supreme Court’s history of curtailing Title IX and other civil rights laws in my article in The Washington Post Made by History section, published May 9, 2022. I am delighted that former Chancellor of the University of Illinois, Springfield Susan Koch wrote a glowing review of 37 Words in the Des Moines Register. The Nation magazine published an excerpt from my chapter 5, which introduces Title IX’s application by the movement against sexual violence. The Washington Monthly gave 37 Words a fine review — check it out! The Wall Street Journal published a review of my book and I wrote a Letter to the Editor correcting some misinformation in that review.
My virtual fireside chat with Kenyora Parham, executive director of End Rape on Campus, gives a good overview of the book. Plus video clips of interviews with some of the book’s main characters! The New York Historical Society’s Center for Women’s History & Academic Affairs posted a discussion with me and some of the earliest Title IX activists, available on YouTube. If you registered for the American Historical Association 2022 conference, you can watch a video that will be available through June of our panel session on “Fifty Years of Title IX: Evolutions in the Struggle Against Sex Discrimination in Education.”
The Washington, D.C. chapter of the National Organization for Women interviewed me on the DC NOW podcast. Here’s a Facebook Live video of my book launch event at the Norwich Bookstore, though you may want to just listen instead of watch because the first four minutes are sideways. (Oops!) It’s still a wonderful discussion with Kate Rohdenburg of WISE.
Lastly, here are links to order your copy of my new book, 37 Words: Title IX and Fifty Years of Fighting Sex Discrimination (The New Press, 2022).
Really exciting that you were such a big part of sourcing people for the NYC exhibit. Saddened by the CSUs having such a problem. Really important to flag that women can be abusers too. Your posts are packed with so much information. Thank you for all your substantial work!