All Things Equal, Title IX, August 2022

ALL THINGS EQUAL It’s been 50 years since the passage of Title IX, federal legislation intended to level the playing field for women A special publication of the Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.  Friday, Aug. 26, 2022

TITLE IX Representatives, and she financial assistance, which includthat Title IX was enacted in order to remedy discrimination typed notions of women’s interests and abilities.” told schools to create those opportunities: create more teams, provide resources and actively recruit women. With this recruitment effort meansen,scholarshipsathleticforwom-whichprovidedtheformanytogoto college. Again, all of this special edition will detail the workleadershipincludingics,importanceincredibleofathlet-forboysandgirls,learningandteam-skills,butthe bogeyman of women’s and/or girls’ sports offered continues to exist. The TitlemisconceptionlargestisthatIXhastakenaway men’s and/or boys’ sports. That was never a requireFor some people, Title IX created more headaches for our tonation:basicofchanceandgenerations,hadbarrierswayslegalTitlepeople,numberssports.andleadingnation,tolawsuitsangeroverForvastofotherthough,IXcreatedandculturaltoovercomethatexistedforpresentedatopartakeoneofthepartsofouraccesseducation.

The court’s decision told schools to create those opportunities: create more teams, provide resources and actively recruit women. With this recruitment effort came more meansen,scholarshipsathleticforwom-whichprovidedtheformanytogoto college. Again, all of this was tied to education. Other pieces in this special edition will detail the workleadershipincludingics,importanceincredibleofathlet-forboysandgirls,learningandteam-skills,butthe bogeyman of women’s and/or girls’ sports offered continues to exist. The TitlemisconceptionlargestisthatIXhastakenaway men’s and/or boys’ sports. That was never a requirement, but schools had to offer equal opportunity, and that meant equitable scholarships, facilities and resources. Schools have been notoriously bad about this. The other aspect of Title IX that is receiving, and rightfully so, increased attention, especially on college campuses, is sexual harassment and assault.

COMMENTARY Amy Canfield

Title IX, as has been established by U.S. Supreme Court precedents (Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District in 1998 and Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education in 1999), has made schools responsible to provide a safe environment for students, and must actively address sexual harassment of students by both other students as well as faculty and staff. Schools have a legal responsibility in this regard, and sadly many schools have failed their students, especially women students. The documented failures of this are staggering by themselves, but we also know that this means there are many other undocumented failures. We know that some students are reluctant or scared to come forward because of these failures.

Title IX also provides legal protections for students who face harassment based on gender stereotypes or sexual orientation. While some might decry the diversity and inclusivity that most institutions of higher education seek, Title IX has provided a measure of safety for groups that have been historically targeted. If a person does not feel safe or welcome on a campus, they will not finish their degree. Again, with a goal of creating equitable opportunity for education, this is all incredibly important. For some people, Title IX created more headaches for our nation, leading to lawsuits and anger over sports. For vast numbers of other people, though, Title IX created legal and cultural ways to overcome barriers that had existed for generations, and presented a chance to partake of one of the basic parts of our nation: access to education. While there is still a long way to go to create true equity and access for all parts of education, for 50 years, Title IX has provided a way to do it and a goal. The successes are there, and we can continue to build on them.

T his year marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX, legislation aimed at increasing access to education for everyone. The wording for this piece of legislation is succinct, but its effects have been far-reaching and culture-changing.

Seeing how victims are treated publicly has been another deterrent for others to come forward.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 20222 TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL

Canfield is a professor of History and Gender and Women's Studies at Lewis-Clark State College.

Tracking the significance of Title IX

LCSC history professor Amy Canfield looks at the changes for women since the historic legislation passed in 1972 (1996), the court responded to those 1998 v.

Title IX reads: “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.” There is wassincechangedtionwhydetailsthisblynalmorethesesignificanceimmenseinshortlines,thanitsorigi-authorsproba-envisioned,andspecialsectionhowandthislegisla-stillmatters.Theworldhassomuch1972.Thattheyearof Watergate, Godfather”“Thewas the top movie, and Elvis was still with us. Women were only about 40% of the population.collegeThe National Collegiate Athletic Association had no athletic scholarships for women and, most likely tied to this, only 30,000 women were NCAA athletes, as compared to 170,000 men. Only 1 in 27 (or about 300,000) girls participated in high school sports, as compared to more than 3,100,000 boys who played in high school. The results of Title IX 50 years later are obvious. Here we are in 2022, where more than 3.5 million girls play high school sports and women are almost 60% of all college students. If the goal was to increase access to education, Title IX has succeeded. We have seen new opportunities for women and girls over the past 50 years, but Title IX is one of those greatly misunderstood pieces of legislation. Most people associate Title IX with only sports, and while athletics are undoubtedly an incredibly important part of it all, the key aspect to Title IX is education. Title IX was designed to level out the playing field in terms of financial assistance, admissions, counseling and educational resources. With Title IX, we have seen numbers of women students increase at colleges. But (speaking as a woman college faculty member), there are changes in campus culture because of Title IX for more than just students.

While there are still many challenges for women on campuses, we have witnessed more women faculty members hired at colleges, partial dismantling of “men only” fields (such as medicine, the sciences, and law) for faculty and students, and more recruitment and acceptance (both formal acceptance into college and informal acceptance on the college campus) of women. When Congress first passed Title IX, it was not as controversial as it would later become. Title IX was just one small part of a larger education bill, authored primarily by Rep. Patsy T. Mink of Hawaii. Mink was the first Asian-American in the U.S. House of Representatives, and she was the first woman of color. She had faced her own barriers in education, and wanted to help girls and women overcome those. Working with Rep. Edith Green of Oregon and Indiana Sen. Birch Bayh, Mink argued forcefully that without equal access to education, women would never have equal opportunities for success in the world. Its basic wording and ideas of anti-discrimination resonated with a large portion of society. Where it got a bit more divisive, about a decade into its existence, was in the realm of sports. With the wording, of “any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance,” Title IX meant that any school — K-12 and higher education — that offered athletic programs and received financial assistance, which included federal financial aid, had to find some levels of equity, even in sports. In the 1990s, many colleges and universities still were not providing equal access and opportunities for girls, most visibly seen in limited women’s teams and scholarships. Schools argued before the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 1996 that these opportunities didn’t exist because women didn’t want them, but the court disagreed. In Cohen v. Brown University (1996), the court responded to those justifications that women were simply less interested in competitive sports. The court said that this had been culturally ingrained in women because they had historically been denied the opportunity. The court said that was the entire point of Title IX, to improve the lack of opportunity, and that arguing otherwise was “to ignore the fact that Title IX was enacted in order to remedy discrimination that results from stereotyped notions of women’s interests and abilities.”

“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. ”

“I think that’s a nice thing that they don’t know some of that,” she said.

Troianello, a copy editor for herspokenpublic,Herald-Re-Yakimathehasaboutexperiences to younger generations. They probably have a hard time imagining what it was like for her and her teammates at WSU, but she said that is a positive.

Karen Troianello, then Karen Blair, was at the heart of a lawsuit Washington State University women athletes and coaches brought against WSU seeking gender equity in compliance with Title IX.

“We’re in a time when rights for women are not necessarily assured and the progress that we’ve made on many fronts I think is endangered,” she said. Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.

Karen girlyoungbelievesTroianelloeveryboyandinschool should open themselves up to as many experiences as they can, not just in sports but in the classroom. She has been a longtime advocate for equal opportunity in schools for all StateWashingtonotherjoinedTroianelloyearsForty-threegenders.ago,38femaleUniversity athletes and 11 coaches in fighting for gender equality through a lawsuit against WSU. They would win Blair v. Washington State University in 1987 after the case went to the state Supreme Court. The athletes and coaches fought for more scholarships, their own locker room, better uniforms and the right to not be treated as second-class athletes. When Troianello, then Karen Blair, was a track and field athlete at WSU between 1976-80, there were only five women’s varsity sports at WSU. Today, there are nine.

One of the great benefits of athletics is that it can provide young boys and girls with mentors who encourage them to do their best.

Troianello said she thinks it’s great that women and girls are continuing to challenge norms, especially now.

By ANTHONY KUIPERS

F ALL THINGS

Karen Troianello reflects on Title IX decades after being part of a groundbreaking gender equity case change at WSU

“I just think that you have to have opportunities for all sorts of things for kids to find out where they shine and where they can find ways to offer more to their community,” she said.

Some expressed their gratitude. She recalled meeting a young female athlete when Troianello was inducted into the Bellingham High School Hall of Fame as an activist.

Robert Hubner/WSU Photo Services

“It may not be a statewinning performance but it’s a pushing of self, which I think we all need,” she said.

EQUAL

“Her mom brought her up and said, ‘This is who you need to thank,’ ” she said. As Troianello reflects on the 50th anniversary of Title IX, she thinks about equity in other facets of education. She thinks about her youth and how being good at math or taking wood shop class was taboo for girls back then. She hopes boys and girls now have the same opportunities and feel the same freedom to try as many classes and activities as they want.

Even though women have made significant progress in athletics and education over the years, Troianello said equality is never guaranteed.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2022 3TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL

OR

An agent of

When she looks back at that time, she thinks about the teamwork required to make it happen. “I think it was such an amazing time of a lot of people coming together and seeing that there was something that needed to change and then working for it,” she said.

By FOR

LCSC representative said Lewiston school supports students in other ways August Frank/Tribune

ALL THINGS EQUAL Continued on Page 5

W ashington rectoren*sUniversityStateWom-CenterDi-AmySharp

Amy Sharp, director of the Washington State University Women*s Center, stands in the doorway at the center for a photo.

MARY STONE

describes her job as fun, rewarding — and exhausting.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 20224 TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL

“You’re swimming in the inequities of what happens to women all across the globe, and here,” Sharp said. The center works with a cross section of campus organizations through the Coalition for Women Students, including the Association of Pacific and Asian Women; Black Women’s Caucus; FemScouts; Generation Action, the student activist group for Planned Parenthood; Men for Social Change; Mujeres Unidas, representing interests and issues of Chicanas/Latinas; Native American Women’s As sociation; PERIOD, advocating for menstrual equity; Queer Intersections Association; YWCA at WSU; and a new group, Cougs for Reproductive Freedom. Last year, the center’s newly formed, student-run feminist publication, Harpy’s Magazine, organized a fair to highlight the groups.

“We really try to amplify their voices,” Sharp said. Student groups play a similar role in serving students at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, though without a dedicated program. The school “doesn’t have a women’s center, but serves students through a variety of services, programming, clubs

WSU Women*s Center closes in on 50 years

In 2018, the name was updated from the Women’s Resource Center to the Women*s Center. The similar name was kept to honor the history of the women at WSU, especially the Association of Women Students (now the Coalition for Women Students), which began in 1912. The asterisk is a way of saying there’s more to this story. Anyone of any gender is welcome.

Continued from Page 4 615494H_22

“... LC State’s history and practice has been to meet and address the needs and interests of various demographic groups by integrating services and supports throughout campus clubs, organizations and programming,” Fowler’s statement read, in part. “This approach has and continues to serve our campus community well.”

inanyonehandhasCenterWomen*sthesuppliesotheranddiapersvarioustheshowsSharpWSUonforneed. and organizations,” according to a statement from spokesperson Logan Fowler, who noted the school’s spring programming celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title IX during Women’s History Month.

womenstars-center—women.wsu.edu/

Women in the outdoors have embraced mentorship and created

others.outdoorstheallhunterscommunitieswarmthatwelcomeandshootersofskilllevelsandsharesamepassionfortheandhelping

“So we go before the board every year to ask for funding,” she said. The amount has been as much as $200,000, though current funding is a little less than that, she said. Sharp is the only center employee at the moment, but a program coordinator position with historically high turnover will be replaced this school year with an adviser position with better pay and benefits, she said, with the intent of creating a more stable staffing situation for the office.

Though funding has been “a bit of a roller coaster,” even just in the five years she’s been there, the center’s vital role continues to be recognized, Sharp said. “The proof is in the pudding,” she said. “The Women*s Center is still here.” Stone (she/her) can be reached at mstone@inland360.com.

> What’s with the asterisk?

The timelines for the women’s centers at University of Idaho and WSU have been similar, with the UI center celebrating 50 years this year and WSU’s doing so in 2024. “I think we were hot on the tails of the University of Idaho on a lot of Title IX issues,” Sharp said. She has worked in the realm of women’s issues for most of the past two decades, including at the University of Idaho as a program adviser starting in 2005. “That really sharpened the lens on feminist issues for me,” she said. Her position at WSU is state-funded, with the rest of the center’s budget coming from student activity fees.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2022 5TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL

TribuneFrank/August

“My job is really looking at all aspects of compliance to ensure that individuals who are participating in our programs are able to do so successfully, without experiencing discrimination.”

On the front lines

The job includes developing and facilitating training on student and employee rights under the law, handling grievance procedures for complaints and reaching out to individuals who Title IX coordinators at UI, WSU work to guarantee compliance with federal law

At Washington State University, Holly Ashkannejhad, has been the director of Compliance and Civil Rights since 2019 and worked in related roles for an additional five years.

“We see a variety of questions come through. Some people just want to know about their options. It becomes more challenging when a person says, ‘I want you to know what happened, but I don’t want to get anyone in trouble.’ We can’t guarantee an outcome. We try to be transparent and up front about that, and manage expectations without overwhelming them.”

“We deal with all sorts of discrimination complaints in our office,” Agidius said. “We’re managing cases, fielding emails and answering questions frequently. Sometimes they are low-level things and others require full investigations.”

“Conversations about Title IX have led to widespread productive debates about sex discrimination, the role of educational institutions and communities in addressing sex discrimination, and how to best inform and educate folks about these issues and the impact on people and communities.”

Zach Wilkinson/Daily News

With broader awareness comes an increase in research and interest in these areas, along with more acceptance and ways to report concerns,discriminationshesaid.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 20226 TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL

“Title IX history is powerful because it is the history of individuals who stood up for equal rights, including individuals who advocated for their right to participate equally in athletics and educational programs, to establish fair recruitment, hire and promotion protocols, and to have sex and gender-based violence addressed appropriately.”

Sandaine can be reached at kerris@lmtribune.com.

HOLLY ASHKANNEJHAD, DIRECTOR OF COMPLIANCE AND CIVIL RIGHTS AT WSU

THINGS EQUAL

may have misconduct,experiencedshesaid.Inaddition,thecoordinators are responsible for providing prevention and awareness education, data analysis and record keeping.

“These shifts will continue to benefit future generations as we take lessons from the past, learn from the current research and data, and drive improvements in our processes and policies.”

“When I think about the past 50 years, the thing that makes me the most proud to work in this field is continuing the legacy of those who came before me,” Ashkannejhad said.

University of Idaho Title IX Director Erin Agidius poses for a portrait in the conference room of the Civil Rights and Investigations office in Moscow.

By KERRI SANDAINE FOR ALL to treatmentequalensure

“Title IX history is powerful because it is the history of individuals who stood up for equal rights, including individuals who advocated for their right to participate equally in athletics and educational programs, to establish fair recruitment, hire and promotion protocols, and to have sex and genderbased violence addressed appropriately.”

Title IX coordinators at area universities answer a wide variety of questions, investigate complaints and make sure their respective schools are in compliance with the federal law. Erin Agidius, who leads the Office of Civil Rights and Investigations at the University of Idaho, has held the position for seven years.

The people who fought for those rights transformed universities and created a more level playing field for educational communities, Ashkannejhad said.

Agidius said she considers it a success when a student, faculty or staff member who has engaged in the process at UI refers someone to the office. “We’re doing the best we can to help the folks who come through our door,” she said.

Meeting the letter of the civil rights law is an important part of campus life, for students, faculty and staff members. In addition, federal funding is dependent on compliance.

“Title IX coordinators collaborate with campus partners to build resources, processes and protocols for addressing and preventing sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, sexual assault, stalking and intimate partner violence,” Ashkannejhad said.

The NCAA claims the law, if followed to the letter, will create financial chaos, and amendments have been introduced in both the House and Senate to water down portions pertaining to athletics.

“We’re going to seek passage of the amendments that have now been introduced in both houses,” said Thomas Hanson, assistant executive director of the NCAA. “We feel that this is not only very desirable but a necessary amendment. We feel there is good support for it.”

The Department of Health, Education and Welfare, which wrote the guidelines to Title IX of the Omnibus Education Act of 1972, notified all school districts several weeks ago of the impending effective date, and, according to a spokesman, was prepared to process any complaints made under the law.

Associated Press file photos

Hanson said Congress apparently felt the law should not be prevented from taking effect immediately, since it was passed three years ago. “It apparently was felt it was time to let them become effective and see what problems may arise,” he said.

TOP: Jacksonville State sophomore Ashley Martin (89) of Sharpsburg, Ga., kicks her first extra point of the season against Cumberland in Jacksonville, Ala., on Aug. 30, 2001. Martin kicked the extra point on her team’s second touchdown. Martin was the first female to play in an NCAA Division I game.

Lewiston Morning Tribune. ASSOCIATED

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2022 7TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL

story

NCAA President John Fuzak, an associate dean at Michigan, said the guidelines “tend to treat women’s sports the same way football and basketball are treated.”

This originally ran 1975, PRESS WASHINGTON, D.C. — Title IX, a law meant to end sex discrimination in the nation’s schools, officially went into effect Monday, but how much clout it would have in athletics remained to be seen.

in the July 22,

Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in admissions, financial aid, employment and athletics in the 16,000 school districts and 2,700 institutions of higher education that receive federal aid. In the three years since the law was passed, and especially during the past month when Congress mulled over the new regulations implementing it, there have been several attempts to weaken it. The amendments now before Congress would allow revenues produced by a sport such as football and basketball to be used solely to support that sport.

Law to end sex discrimination goes into effect

TITLE IX KICKS IN

LEFT: South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley celebrates after a college basketball game in the final round of the Women’s Final Four NCAA tournament against UConn on April 3, 2022, in Minneapolis. South Carolina won 64-49 to win the championship.

Continued on Page 9

“So the Women’s Center, I think, opened as a place for women to find community and safety and connection, especially given that they were so underrepresented at the university,” Salsbury said. “And as it turned out, several UI Women’s Center not only offers resources and support to women, but to all students

A safe space for everyone

“I suppose that’s been the biggest change is that we don’t limit our outreach to women identified individuals but to all individuals who are seeking a safe and supportive space on campus.”

The “herstory” of the Women’s Center began when UI President Ernest Hartung asked the women’s caucus on campus to do a study on attrition rates among female students who were dropping out at a rate of 25-30% every year. The study revealed that women were promotionsunequalgender-discriminationexperiencingwithpay,opportunitiesandandtherewasno center for women’s health.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 20228 TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL

n the 50 years of the University of Idaho Women’s Center and Title IX, some things have changed, but the mission of the center has remained the same. Women are still most affected by violence, especially power-based Professionally,violence.women are underpaid and lack access to positions of leadership. The Women’s Center continues to work to address these issues by providing education, resources and lobbying for change. “A lot of the things we do now are still the same,” said Lysa Salsbury, director of the Women’s Center since 2013. “We aim to provide a source of support and connection for all students. I suppose that’s been the biggest change is that we don’t limit our outreach to women identified individuals but to all individuals who are seeking a safe and supportive space on campus.”

The University of Idaho Women’s Center is celebrating its 50th anniversary, along with celebrating 50 years of Title IX. The Women’s Center opened its doors Nov. 4, 1972, five months after Title IX was signed into law. For the 50th eventswillsary,anniver-thecenterhavegoing on until April. Salsbury is most excited for the keynote speaker event with Ijeoma Oluo, who wrote the book, “So You Want to Talk About Race,” which was chosen for the UI common read for 2022-23 and is read by all incoming freshmen. Salsbury said Oluo is a big name for her work on equity, inclusion, feminism and anti-racist activities. The event is free but seating is limited Oct.beTheispreregistrationandrequired.eventwillat6p.m.4atthe ICCU Arena. Registration can be done at bit.ly/3Qh86SV.

I

Zach Wilkinson/Daily News

OVW Project Manager Rachel Norris, Director Lysa Salsbury and office manager Omni Francetich pose for a portrait inside the University of Idaho Women’s Center in Moscow.

LISA SALSBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO WOMEN’S CENTER

By KAYLEE BREWSTER FOR ALL THINGS EQUAL

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2022 9TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL

women were atwhichgender-basedexperiencingdiscrimination,wasnotuncommonthetimegiventhelackof legal protections for women.” The women’s caucus then filed a complaint with the Idaho Human Rights Commis sion and negotiated repara tions to address those issues, which included permanent funding and staffing for a Women’s Center. The center is paid for by student fees and grants cover the cost for some programs at the center. Many people think of Title IX and how it affected athlet ics, but that’s not the aspect of the law that the Women’s Center mainly deals with. “The goal is non-discrimina tion on the basis of sex, so how that interacts with our office most often is in the realm of sexual assault,” Salsbury said, which includes interpersonal violence, sexual assault, do mestic violence and stalking. “So the university has an obligation through the terms of Title IX to protect students from gender-based discrimi nation of which power-based gender-based violence is considered to be a type of gender discrimination.”

The federal government requires universities to inves tigate reports of those types of crimes and to protect individu als who are victims as part of a confidential reporting service. Universities also are required to work as advocates through the process with the Wom en’s Center fulfilling all of those roles for UI. The center refers students to community organizations like Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse and Gritman Medical Center.

The Women’s Center has a three-year, $300,000 grant that

Continued from Page 8 Continued on Page 10

Zach Wilkinson/Daily News

ABOVE: Norris, from left, Salsbury and Francetich sit and speak inside the University of Idaho Women’s Center lounge in Moscow. BELOW: Feminine hygiene products and condoms are available for anyone in the University of Idaho Women’s Center.

Zach Wilkinson/Daily News

As part of the mission to help women on campus and reduce violence against women, there are programs for men to help prevent gender-based violence. The center received a grant called Mobilizing Men. The idea behind the program is to prevent rape and violence against women by training men to stop rape by having conversations about behaviors that opprograminterpersonalmorestereotypeslengearehowhealthyternities.athleticmale-dominated,onbeganlence.gender-basedperpetuatevio-Theprogramwithgroupscampusthatareliketeamsandfra-Theydiscussmasculinity,menandwomensocializedandchal-thenormsandthatcauseacceptanceofviolence.“Ourgoalwiththatistodevel-morealliestohelp reduce and prevent gender-based violence on our campus, particularly in groups where there are a lot of male-identified individuals who might have some power to be able to step in and challenge some of those dynamics on our campus,” Salsbury said.

The Women’s Center not only serves students with programs and resources, but the facility offers a safe and familiar place for students to hang out between classes. The place looks like someone’s living room with a TV and kitchenette. There are cold and hot drinks and snacks. Free menstrual products are offered. And there is a study room with computers and a space for group meetings. “We aim to provide access to needs that women-identified people and others could want,” Salsbury said. “We know that some of our students have children and so there aren’t very many spaces you can go on campus and you can bring your 3-year-old.”

Continued from Page 9

“Kids are welcome in our space. You can’t separate your identity as a student from your identity as a mother. You’re both simultaneously.”

ABOVE: A note left from a student is seen on a white board inside the University of Idaho Women’s Center in Moscow. Art is hung inside the Women’s Center.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 202210 TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL funds the campus’s Violence Prevention Program, which the center received in 2020. The grant helps develop and implement violence prevention initiation from students in underserved populations, such as international students, LGBTQ students, Native American students, Latinx students and Black students. Students also are made aware of the violence hotline used by Alternative to Violence of the Palouse, which began at the Women’s Center, as part of the grant. The work being done at the center isn’t just for women. “Men can be involved in pretty much every way that anyone of any other gender can be involved,” Salsbury said. “We serve everybody. We welcome everybody — men, women, nonbinary folks, gender-diverse folks — everyone is welcome here.”

Brewster may be contacted at comkbrewster@lmtribune.orat(208)848-2297.

The center has increased academic opportunities by partnering with the women’s gender and sexuality studies minor to offer internships and service opportunities. UI faculty and staff also are included in the process.

“Kids are welcome in our space,” Salsbury said. “You can’t separate your identity as a student from your identity as a mother. You’re both simultaneously.”

LISA SALSBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO WOMEN’S CENTER

Athena is a professional organization for female faculty and staff at the university with the goal of advocating for an inclusive environment for women by offering mentorship programs, networking opportunities and changing university policies like parental leave. The group, along with the Women’s Center, plans an annual women’s leadership conference for the university.

In addition, the Women’s Center peopletermsyou’reupliftofthewomenhistorictoeducationalprovidesopportunitiesteachstudentsabouttheinequalitiesthathaveexperienced.“Weworktopromotecontributionsandlaborwomentohighlightit,toit,”Salsburysaid.“IflookingatTitleIXinoftryingtoeducateontherealitiesof gender-based discrimination and work on strategies to mitigate it and to reduce it, that’s a big part of the educational outreach that we do.”

Dave Snodgrass got a front-row seat for the gradual increase in sports opportunities for girls at the high school level during his decadeslong coaching career. Snodgrass led girls’ basketball teams at Highland of Craigmont, Clearwater Valley of Kooskia, Prairie of Cottonwood and Nezperce.

Austin Johnson/Tribune

Longtime high school coach Dave Snodgrass saw opportunitiessports flourish for girls, though the tookchangetime

“They did a great job

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.

“We are there to help the kids grow up and if they are excit ed about playing, it teaches them lifelong lessons of, if you lose, you get up and do it again. Tomorrow is another day,” he said. “The thing I would rate as one of the features of athletics is if you get knocked down, you get up and get after it again, and there is always somebody out there better than you.”

“That first track program I had, it was two-to-one girls over boys,” he said. “Boys had taken track a lot. They knew track hurts. The girls were just excited to get an opportunity and they all turned out. I loved it.” That was in the late 1960s. Girls’ track, basketball and volley ball would soon become routine in schools big and small with the coming of Title IX. But Snodgrass was serv ing a four-year stint in the Air Force. He returned to teaching and coaching in 1975. Even a few years into the new era, there were still discrepancies in op portunity. He said girls’ sports were still playing “second fiddle” to boys. But things were changing, even if not fast enough for some. “It just started grad ually being accepted in the mid-1970s to early 1980s,” he said. For example, it took a while for state tournaments to reach parity. The first girls’ state basketball tour nament involved only four teams in each division compared to the boys’ tournament that had eight teams. But the next year, the girls’ field was expand ed to eight provisionswithActivitiesIdahoStickle,istratorstheSnodgrassteams.creditsworkofadminlikeDickheadoftheHighSchoolAssociation,implementingoftheact.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2022 11TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL

He came to Ida ho to be an assistant boys’ basketball coach but welcomed the opportunity to be the head coach of the girls’ team. “If I wasn’t old I might still be doing it — because of the kids,” he said. “I never had a team that didn’t try.”

He watched the change happen

of gradually getting women’s sports more and more equal ac cess,” he said. “Some just accepted and did what they were asked to do and others had to be pushed.”

By ERIC BARKER

FOR ALL THINGS EQUAL

Dave offirstmissedSnodgrassthefewyearsTitleIXbut the 1972 civil rights law that forbid sexbased discrimination in education shaped his 40-plus-year career as a high school coach and openedtoninjuniorperce,CottonwoodKooskia,ClearwaterlandadministratorandwhoparticipatetheyoungwasOthersofferedlimited.andforathleticPrioradministrator.tothelaw,opportunitiesgirlsinjuniorhighhighschoolwereSomeschoolsprograms.didnot.Butitcleartohimthatwomencravedopportunitytoinsports.Thenow75-year-old,taught,coachedservedasaschoolatHighofCraigmont,ValleyofPrairieofandNezwasteachinghighschooleasternWashingwhentheschooltracktogirls.

The education value of athletics, for girls or boys, men or women, is clear to Snodgrass.

But he also counts himself a beneficiary of the law. Though perhaps not by design, it greatly expand ed opportunities for coaches like him.

“Everybody complained because it’s not basketball,” she said. “I remember going home and telling my parents, ‘This is the most fun I’ve ever had. This guy, he’s good.’ ”

Growing up on a farm in north central Idaho during the 1960s, Bobbi Hazeltine, nee Tatko, played enchantedTheproperty.theaendlesslybasketballathooponfamilygameher. She would shoot until the cows came home. So did her four siblings. So did a few neighbor kids. At the Craigmont school they all attended, however, basketball fates divided into gender. Bobbi’s older brother played the game on a formal, competitive level, and Bobbi transformed herself into a spectator. As a girl, this was her assigned role, and she accepted it without thought or protest. But she was missing a critical part of the sport. With the passage of Title IX in 1972, when Bobbi was 12, the picture began to change. Schools began offer ing sports for girls on a con sistent, widespread basis. Bobbi played and prospered. The experience has been a game-changer in her life, particularly in her career as the women’s basket ball coach at Walla Walla Community College in Walla Walla, where she has won games with rosterrequiresattionandConferenceingsuccessagainstsheconsistency.devastatingIn23seasonshasaccrued496wins162losses(a.754rate)whilerecordthreeNorthwestAthleticchampionshipsanear-perfectgraduarate.Thisdespitetoilingatwo-yearschoolthatoverhaulingheronaregularbasis.

By DALE GRUMMERT FOR ALL THINGS EQUAL

game-changer

“One of the best coaches I have ever played for or coached with,” said Kati Treinen, who is married to Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen, and indeed played for Bobbi at WWCC and later served her as an assistant coach. “Not only is she a great teacher of the game, but she is a mentor to all of her players. A great coach, to me, istheirtheirateonlywhosomeoneisnotpassionaboutjobbutplayers as well.” All this would have been exceedingly difficult without Title IX, which forced schools to equal ize athletic opportunities between boys and girls, even in parts of the country like Idaho that tend to cling to traditional viewpoints. “I’m sure there are places where it’s not equal,” Bobbi, 62, said recently, “but where I work and in my world, it is. And it’s nice. I’m so envious of girls now who can do everything, because we couldn’t do anything.” While shooting hoops on the Tatko farm, she devel oped a love of basketball mostly free of personal ambition (“I always knew I wanted to be coach, but I didn’t know if girls could coach,” she said, and Title IX came out of nowhere and gave her a way to nurture that love. A few years after its passage, she turned out for basketball as a freshman at Highland High, played a year on a ragtag JV team, then moved up to varsity under a new coach, Dave Snodgrass (see related story, Page 11). The first week of practice, there wasn’t a basketball in sight. The team practiced cuts to the basket and defensive slides — all the nuances of the game that Bobbi hadn’t had a chance to learn.

Continued on Page 13

Tribune file Title IX was a game-changer for Walla Walla Community College coach Bobbi Hazeltine. It opened up the chance to play girls’ basketball in high school and later to a lengthy career in coaching.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 202212 TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL

For her, new law was a Bobbi Hazeltine revved up her basketball education with Title IX, and is still using it to the fullest

The next year, Idaho introduced an official girls’ state tournament, and the year after that — Bobbi’s senior season, in 1978 — she helped the Huskies claim a state A-4 title, defeating Salmon River 38-33 in the title game at Lewiston’s Booth Hall. The cover of the Lew iston Morning Tribune the next day features Bobbi raising her arm in triumph while hugging teammate Mary Heath. After attending North Idaho College and the University of Idaho (strictly as a student, not an athlete), Bobbi began her teaching and coaching career at Troy (Idaho) High School, coaching girls’ basket ball and volleyball. In 12 seasons of Troy basket ball, she won 81% of her games and claimed five state titles. Her first Troy hoops team went 9-9, and since then she’s rolled to 34 consecutive above-.500 seasons at Troy and WWCC. She and her husband, Rory, have two grown children and have put down roots in Walla Walla, where their son Nick is athletic direc tor at DeSales High. “It’s all about relation ships,” she said of her coaching philosophy. “If you treat your kids well, they’ll run through a wall for you. If you look at it like, ‘Hey, this is college and I’m going to be superior to you,’ that doesn’t work, especial ly at our level. So it’s about relationships, and it’s about simplicity. I try to keep it as simple as possible. I’ve got 15 kids from 15 different schools with 15 different coaches, and they’re all at different levels. If you make it hard, you’ll never be successful.

Continued

Page 12

“I’ll sometimes tell the Title IX story,” she said. “‘You guys have so much more than I had. You need to take advantage of it.’ “Some kids get sick of hearing that,” she said, “but it’s true.” Grummert may be contacted at daleg@lmtribune. com or (208) 848-2290. from

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2022 13TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL

Tribune file Hazeltine says coaching women at a two-year institution is all about relationships, since full roster changes are a frequent occurrence.

WILLIAMSELAINE FOR ALL THINGS EQUAL

August Frank/Tribune file

Story continues below

Benefiting from those who

Lewiston’s Jennah Carpenter leaps up to keep the ball on the Moscow side as Moscow’s Izzy Burns tries to hit it over to Lewiston in this 2020 photo. Carpenter now competes at the next level, playing for the Lewis-Clark State College Warriors.

“As a girl (in the Lewis ton-Clarkston Valley), I’ve had an opportunity to do everything I want in athletics,” she said. What is known as Title IX is “the shorthand name for a federal civil rights law that was part of Educa tion Amendments of 1972,” said Erin Agidius, Title IX coordinator for the University of Idaho in an email. “It prohibits sex-based dis crimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the fed eral government,” she said. When it was presented by Sen. Birch Bayh, Democrat of Indiana, he described it as “sex-neutral ad missions policies that focused on guaranteeing” equal opportunity and access for women, Agidius said. Title IX evolved in the decade after it was passed, she said, with the government approving regula tions involving inclusion of women in athletics in the mid-1970s. A couple of years later, a case in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals “set the stage for ensuring institutions implement grievance procedures for allegations of sexual harassment and ultimately set the precedent to sup port that sexual harassment consti tutes sex discrimination,” she said.

She and her teammates discovered capacity they didn’t know existed in themselves as they persevered against an opponent that it turns out was only almost as good as they were. They cashed in on the hours of grueling practices they en dured that gave them the skills to meet the challenge they faced.

Passage of Title IX provided access that rarely existed before the federal law

“Everybody was screaming and was so excited,” said Carpenter, who also competes in track. That experience sheds important light on Title IX, a law that marks its 50th anniversary this year. Title IV is giving her access to hundreds of opportunities in the classroom, on the court and on the field.

By

TITLE IX: ALLFRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 202214

J ennah Carpenter, 19, could hear a huge crowd cheering as her Warriors volleyball team battled out their fifth set point before landing the win. She doesn’t remember a lot of the details like what school they were playing. The emotions are what sticks with Carpenter, who is secondarystudyingeducationonsportsandacademicscholarshipsatLewis-ClarkStateCollegeinLewiston.

At this stage, Title IX is so much a part of the culture of schools, col leges and universities that many individuals, including Carpenter, who benefit from it have the luxury of not understanding its particulars.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2022THINGS EQUAL 15

who

At Eastern Washington University, Doering competed for two years of collegiate volleyball and earned a bach elor’s degree in physical education. came before

Moscow’s Skyla Zimmerman grapples with Lewiston’s Jase Hendren in Moscow.

August Frank/Tribune

“I learned a lot about determi nation and tenacity,” she said. “My coach was very encouraging. She was not a yeller, but she did have high expectations and high stan dards and we worked hard.”

All of that happened decades be fore Carpenter and other female high school and college athletes playing sports today were born. But Title IX is still new enough that many women who have played key roles in the region’s sports scene have witnessed the law from its inception. Among them is Susan Doering, the most winning high school volleyball coach in the state of Washington. Her teams at Colfax High School played in 19 state cham pionships and won 14 of them, before she retired in 2017. “I attribute that to my former coaches, who coached and influ

enced me, amazing athletes and players, and wonderful community support,” said Doering in an email. She started junior high in 1970. Her small school 16 miles from the Canadian border had a drill team and cheerleading squad as formal athletics for girls and nothing else. Doering, who was also a teach er, learned basketball, foot ball and softball at recess. As an eighth grader, she joined a girls’ basketball team that com peted against a few other schools without the help of the practices that the school’s boys’ team had. A few more opportunities sur faced when she was a high school freshman. She went out for track and field because it was Bonners Ferry High School’s only organized girls’ sport, played softball with a summer parks and recreation league and did sports like gymnastics and badminton with a Girls Athletic Association. Then in 1974, everything changed and her school had girls’ volleyball, basketball and track with practices and league competitions, Doering said. She got to be a cheerleader too because the girls’ contests were during the week and the boys’ games were on the weekends.

Zimmerman has benefited from changes brought about over the years by Title IX, including the ability to wrestle at the high school level.

Continued on Page 16

“I think what sports gave me was an outlet for my abun dant energy,” Doering said. Shared experiences like long bus rides and winning two volleyball district tournaments out of the los ers’ bracket forged friendships.

Doering Continued from Page 15

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@ lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.

She was a coach and physical education teacher at Deer Park High School north of Spokane before taking a job at Colfax High School in 1988. The presence of Title IX was strong, shaped by a complaint parents of girls brought against the Colfax School District, Doering said. She was paid the same as the boys’ basketball coach. Prom and homecoming were held on Saturday nights, usually after a volleyball match, not a football game. Girls’ and boys’ teams were given the same priorities in scheduling.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 202216 TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL

mom, Rachel Zimmerman. But even if it was driven by good intentions, it was frustrating, because it deprived her of the opportunity to learn from competing against as many opponents as possible, the younger Zimmerman said. That limitation has proved to be a minor setback. Zimmerman is starting her senior year aspiring to win the girls’ state title again and is beginning to weigh her op tions for athletic scholarships.

“It teaches you really good discipline,” she said. That sentiment is shared by Carpenter and was something Do ering saw with her athletes. Many have told her over the years that their memories of making it through challenging practices gave them the mental toughness to tackle other difficult situations in their lives.

Barry Kough/Tribune file

She took to the sport immediate ly. She would lift opponents and throw them to the ground, a tactic that was a carry-over from judo. That caught them off guard be cause they were expecting more traditional maneuvers such as being taken down by being grabbed by one or two of their legs. Once the word spread about her technique, she had to master the nuts and bolts of wrestling to keep winning, which she did as she trained to increase her strength and endurance, Zimmerman said. That earned her the respect of her teammates, male and fe male, as well as her coaches, who have always treated her based on her abilities, she said. But before she emerged as one of the best wrestlers in Idaho of either gender, she encountered skepticism. Sometimes, she would be told by her coaches at competitions that her matches were canceled because some male opponents declined to wrestle females. Part of that could have been concern that the boys didn’t want to hurt her, said her

placingfollowedship.champion-wrestlingstateeverwonyear,thefirstIdahogirlsThatsixth in Idaho’s state coacheswaspetitiontheyearpreviousnamenttour-thewhencom-coed.Maleand

“The women at Colfax had access to good equipment and uniforms,” she said. “Women’s sports had the same importance. That didn’t hap pen at other schools and I’m not sure it still happens in some schools.”

Regardless of what unfolds on the mat in coming months, Zimmer man expects what she’s learned as a wrestler will help her the rest of her life, no matter what she chooses to do.

Former Colfax volleyball head coach Sue Doering talks to her team in November 2014. At the time of her retirement in 2017, she was the winningest high school volleyball coach in Washington state history.

teammates have been helping her develop as an athlete since before she started elemen tary school, Zimmerman said. She began judo instruction when she was 4½ years old with the support of her dad, the head sensei or lead expert in his judo group in Moscow. It was likely her judo back ground that prompted a middle school wrestling coach to approach her about being on his team when she was still in grade school.

While the work of women like Doering has created an acceptance of female athletes that may be even greater than the proponents of Title IX imagined, there are still instanc es where gender creates barriers. Take Skyla Zimmerman, 17, of Moscow, who, as a high school junior this

“However, ability groupings by individual performance in physical education is excusable, as well as separation of sexes in body contact sports.”

By KEVIN ROCHE FOR ALL THINGS EQUAL Title IX of AmendmentsEducationtheActof1972

But by far the biggest uproar triggered by Title IX is in school athletics. “Course offering cannot be separated by sex,” declares the federal regulations.

A number of Clarkston patrons objected to co-education in physical education classes, Beggs recalled.

This story originally ran in the July 16, 1978, Lewiston Morning Tribune.

“You can’t argue with the intent of Title IX,” he says. “It’s just the red tape you have to go through that’s frustrating.”

The Lewiston district just last week approved job descriptions for its employees. And potential employees are no longer asked about their marital status or dependents.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2022 17TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL

‘‘We looked for anything that could be discriminatory on any of those criteria and set up a procedure to correct it,” Morgan says. “The advisory committee has not suggested any specific goal or timetable to overcome any major difficulty because there isn’t any.”

“And some students would prefer segregated classes. But you cannot offer any course specifically for boys or girls.”

“We think in terms of activities, we’re in pretty good shape,” Morgan says. He winces at the mention of an Ohio court decision permitting a girl to play on the high school football team. “That was not the original intent,” he said. Beggs says most of the changes at Clarkston were in extra-curricular activities — expanded sports opportunities and practice schedules for females.

For example, Beggs cites a committee member who spotted a course offering called “girls chorus.” There can be no such course by dictate of Title IX. The reference was deleted. Of course, Beggs adds wryly, a musical director could probably get around that. “You can establish criteria on voice range, but not on sex.” Unless a lad enjoys singing falsetto constantly, the director may well end up with a de facto girls chorus, Beggs admits. But it can’t be called that. Other courses can be sticking points for school districts. Shop courses such as auto mechanics or welding are almost always males only.

habitsoutweredures.torwereAdvisorycomplaints.committeesappointedtomoni-programsandproce-In-houseevaluationsconductedtoseeksexdiscriminationortraditions.

Title IX:

‘‘I can’t think of anything or anyplace that an auditor would not find us in compliance with Title IX,” says Harold O. Beggs, superintendent of the Clarkston School District. Much of the legwork on Title IX at the two valley districts was done long before this week’s deadline

IXlinesRegulationsapproached.andguide-interpretingTitlewereissuedin1975by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Elementary schools, where there presumably would be less outright discrimination in program offerings, had to be in compliance exactly two years ago. Colleges and high schools were given until this month to modify their operations. At the beginning both districts took similar steps to implement the federal law. Morgan and Beggs were appointed Title IX coordinators for their respective districts. Policies and grievance procedures were adopted to respond to possible violations and

Equal opportunity in sports for both sexes is required, as judged by accommodation of student interests, equipment and supplies, scheduling of games and practices, travel allowances and coaching salaries. “Failure to provide necessary funds for teams for one sex may be considered noncompliance,” the regulations state, “however, equal funding is not required.”

“So I think the common name now is ‘single survival,’ ” Beggs quips. The Title IX regulations cover two broad categories: personnel policies, such as job applications, interviews, salaries, promotions and terminations and “delivery of services” or everything else an institution or district contains.

T he age of equality in education for females has dawned. The light emits from the east, from Washington, D.C., birthplace of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, which forbids discrimination on the basis of sex at any school receiving federal funds. That covers virtually all schools. Faced with the unpleasant prospect of forfeiting money from the government, the nation’s school districts, colleges and universities for the most part are falling into line. At least on paper, their policies and practices are devoid of discriminating elements. At Lewiston and Clarkston, school district officials radiate confidence that they comply fully with the law. The final deadline for conformance is next Friday. ‘‘If there’s one effect Title IX has had on the district,” says Glen D. Morgan, assistant superintendent for supervision at Lewiston, “it’s caused us to do some of these things quicker than we might have done otherwise, and it’s helped us identify things we might have overlooked.”

The age of equality of education for women has arrived

Since Title IX’s ban of sex discrimination goes hand in glove with Equal Opportunity laws against race or religion or age discrimination and, Morgan notes, the Lewiston advisory committee watched for those violations as well.

Morgan concedes that Title IX brought sometimes startling changes to the educational system here. “I suppose in a lot of respects girls were being discriminated against just as if they had been painted black.”

He says it is difficult to fix a comparative cost between male and female sports because such things as gymnasium heating, lighting and janitorial costs cover both programs.

Clarkston was mindful not only of Title IX but of other Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action guidelines in considering applicants for elementary school principal at Grantham. The choice was Colleen Hill, the first woman principal in some time, according to Beggs. “I hasten to point out,” he says, “that Colleen was hired because she was the best candidate, not just because she was a female.”

The Clarkston advisory committee, says Beggs, is comprised of a number of district teachers and is designed to catch violations before they become major problems. ‘‘We hope to ward off grievances.”

Females have dominated sewing and home economics. And federal report forms require a district to report what classes are more than 80 percent of a given sex — and why. Morgan says personal or family tradition may mean a continuation of those class imbalances. Many students may simply prefer those sex-stereotyped courses. But he adds it is the district’s responsibility now to see that the composition of those classes is strictly the result of student choice. “The schools alone can’t change all of those things,” Morgan says. “Our role is to make sure that we don’t cause that to happen.”

Morgan speculates that the infusion of money to women’s athletics in the Lewiston district may actually have led to an imbalance in their favor — that more money is spent per capita on women athletes than on men.

Both the Lewiston and Clarkston districts conduct exercise classes in the elementary grades for boys and girls combined. The first separation is in the junior high grades, with contact sports such as soccer or basketball.

But as the federal paperwork carries more specific questions on compliance and demands evidence, Morgan sees the labor and cost of obeying soar.

The district, through counselors, makes a point of telling a female student that she can take auto mechanics, or a male that he can be in sewing. A new district program on career opportunity awareness this fall will help, Morgan adds. Home economics as a female realm is on the way out, Beggs says. Boys used to have the male complement of a course called “Bachelor Living,” but that, too, is now illegal.

A book written by LCSC President Cynthia Pemberton tells her fight and retaliation received for documenting gender inequity in sports at a college in Oregon

By WILLIAM L. SPENCE FOR ALL THINGS EQUAL

Game’ August

Lewis-Clark State College President Cynthia Pemberton stands on campus for a photo next to her book “More than a Game.” The book tells of challenges she faced in the 1990s at a college in Oregon after documenting Title IV issues at the school.

Continued on Page 19

“I wouldn’tabsolutelyhave been on this path. I can’t say I’m glad it happened, but I’m most appreciative of the life experiences that have led me to where I am now.” In the forward to “More than a Game,” Olympic swimmer Donna de Varona noted that, prior to Title IX, very few avenues existed for women to pursue athlet ics at the collegiate level.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 202218 TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL

“I was a child of the sixties who, at 17 years of age, after having won two Olympic gold medals, was forced to retire for lack of opportunity,” she wrote. “In my era, male athletes were offered scholarships to the best universities in America, while female athletes were left out of the system.” Although Title IX is best known for combating this inequity and opportunitiesexpandingforwomen ath letes, college sports wasn’t a primary focus when it was enacted in 1972. Instead, the a Frank/Tribune

he Title IX civil rights law has had a major impact on generations of American women since its enactment 50 years ago.

‘More than

It’s hard to imagine many instances, though, where the effects have been as signif icant — or as painful — as they were for Lewis-Clark State College President CynthiaPemberton,Pemberton.64,spent the early part of her career as a coach and assistant ath letics director at Linfield College (now University), a small, private institution in McMinnville, Ore. In 1992, during the 20th anniversary of Title IX, she began to learn more about the law and eventually wrote a report suggesting Lin field’s athletics program had some compliance issues. What followed were sever al years of alleged discrimi nation, retalia tion, acrimony and legal pro ceedings — a history Pem berton detailed in a 2002 book: “More than a Game: One Woman’s Fight for Gender Equity in Sports.” It’s been 25 years since the lawsuit was settled. Pember ton still has emotional scars from that period of her life. However, she also recog nizes that, had it not hap pened, she likely wouldn’t be president of LCSC today.

“It completely changed the trajectory of my life,” she said in a recent interview.

T

CYNTHIA PEMBERTON, LEWIS-CLARK STATE COLLEGE PRESIDENT how often I hear, there

“That gets in the way of making sure all those barriers are how“IPembertongone,”said.can’ttellyouoftenIhear, ‘Oh, there has to be an equal number of men and women’s sports.’ No. ‘Oh, you have to spend the same amount of money.’ No, it’s never been those things. So I think there persists a lack of clarity and understanding, and that gets in the way. And it’s nuanced, and people don’t like nuance.” Despite the struggles, she said, women in sports has become an accepted norm. “And it’s valued,” Pemberton said. “Certainly there’s evidence to suggest equity remains elusive, but to think that women will play sports and play sports aggressively, and that athleticism for women and men is valued — I think we’re in that place now. And without Title IX, it would probably have been near impossible to get to that point.” Spence may be contacted at combspence@lmtribune.or(208)791-9168. highlighting the shortcomings A lawsuit dealing with of Title IX, although “I can’t tell you how often I hear, ‘Oh, there has to be an equal number of men and women’s sports.’ No. ‘Oh, you have to spend the same amount of money.’ No, it’s never been those things. So I think there persists a lack of clarity and understanding, and that gets in the way. And it’s nuanced, and people don’t like nuance.”

Fifty years after the law was enacted, she thinks there’s greater acceptance of Title IX, although there remains an “amazing” amount of standingandmisinformationmisunder-aboutit.

A lawsuit dealing with the employment issues was settled in 1997. Pemberton left Linfield a year later, taking a faculty position at Idaho State University. Looking back on that time of her life, Pemberton now says Linfield administrators weren’t “bad” people who wanted to deny women opportunity in sports. The problem was that the second-class treatment of women was so culturally ingrained it was perceived as the norm.

“Title IX is certainly bigger than sports, but in general, when it comes to the operational nuts and bolts of equity, the most controversy has been in sports,” Pemberton said. In her book, she describes with some embarrassment how she benefited from Title IX without even being aware of the law. “As a (swimmer) competing in high school and college, I wasn’t aware Title IX was responsible for the opportunities I enjoyed,” Pemberton wrote. “As a coach at the age group, high school and collegiate level, and later as an athletic administrator, I didn’t know Title IX was the reason I had female athletes to recruit and scholarships to offer.” That began to change in 1992. As head swimming coach and assistant athletic director at Linfield, federal regulatory compliance was one of Pemberton’s areas of Duringresponsibility.the20thanniversary of Title IX, she started researching the law and became concerned that Linfield had some compliance issues. For example, men and women participation rates in sports weren’t proportional to enrollment — not because of a lack of interest by women, but because of a lack of opportunity. There were also a number of discrepancies in the way women’s teams were treated, compared to men’s teams, in everything from facilities to coaching pay, equipment, travel, publicity, dining services, recruitment and scholarships. In short, women’s teams were treated as second-class citizens — exactly the problem Title IX was intended to address. After she documented these issues, Pemberton’s relationship with the athletic director and other administrators quickly deteriorated. Her book cites multiple examples of alleged retaliation and mistreatment. She describes it as a “classic ‘shoot the messenger’ situation” in which she was blamed for highlighting the shortcomings and disrupting the status quo.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2022 19TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL August Frank/Tribune Pemberton holds her book “More Than a Game.” law was intended to prohibit discrimination based on sex in housing, admissions and scholarships at educational institutions that received federal funding. Gender equity in sports quickly became a battleground, though, as schools struggled to direct more resources toward women’s athletics, while protecting the male-dominatedtypicallystatusquo.

Continued from Page 18

“It was alien to think that what had been happening for decades was anything but normal,” she said. “If I was right, then everything they thought they’d understood for decades was flawed. That cognitive dissonance was more what (the problems were) about.”

“In many ways the entire ordeal was like the constant drip of water from a leaking faucet,” she wrote. “No single incident was enough to put me over the edge, but the seemingly endlessness of ongoing little things ate away at my well-being. That’s what makes it difficult to recognize and cope with discrimination: its subtlety.” Although outside consultants corroborated many of Pemberton’s findings, she continued to experience retribution. She remained the head coach of the men’s and women’s swimming teams, but was removed as assistant athletic director. When the athletic director retired, she also applied for but was not hired for his position, although she felt she was clearly the most qualified candidate.

Abasketball team takes the court as people sit on the edge of their seats anticipating a win. The sound of sneakers squeaking on freshly waxed floors fills the arena. A couple of seconds remain on the clock and a young female ath lete shoots the ball through the hoop as the crowd roars. She’s helped her team win the game, simul taneously solidifying a career as an athlete. In a male-dominated field like athletics, representa tion of women in leadership becomes all the more im portant. Three out of four of Idaho’s higher education four-year institutions have women athletics directors. It was Title IX and hard work that paved the way to get them to where they are today.

Zach Wilkinson/Daily News

By EMILY PEARCE FOR ALL THINGS EQUAL DIRECTORS IN HIGHER EDUCATION Continued on Page 21

University of Idaho athletic director Terry Gawlik poses for a portrait at center court of Idaho Central Credit Union Arena in Moscow.

“I had a lot of fun, but I realized it was really dif ficult to do by yourself,” Gawlik said. “Trying to balance everything, I felt like I was doing so much and I was a jack of all trades.”

Gawlik knew she didn’t want to coach anymore so she moved to Wisconsin to go into the athletic department, split ting her time in athletics and recreational sports. She spent 25 years at the University of Meet the women who lead college-level sports programs in Idaho

University of Idaho Terry Gawlik is the direc tor of athletics at the Univer sity of Idaho. She came to UI in 2019, bringing 25 years of leadership experience with her — 14 years of which she spent at the University of Wisconsin as the senior womanGawlikadministrator.isoriginallyfrom Bulverde, Texas, and went to Southwestern University to earn her bachelor of science in physical education. Later, she studied at Texas State University to receive a mas ter’s of educational adminis tration and supervision. She was a student athlete and spent most of her time play ing volleyball and basketball. Soon after Gawlik gradu ated, she got a job in college coaching against her former teammates. She coached col legiately in Texas for 13 years at NAIA-level schools. With no assistance, she coached, taught and trained two sports teams until she realized she wanted to move onto greater and better things.

Leaders in their field

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 202220 TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL

Idaho State University

Henze said she is one of the products of Title IX, adding all the things women have fought for she has had the opportunity to experi ence the fruits of their labor. In the department, Henze said she has a dominant

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com or on Twitter @Emily_A_Pearce

Continued from Page 20

female staff — six of seven administrators are women. In her role, Henze ad vocates for gender equity and makes sure there ar en’t discrepancies between men’s and women’s teams. Henze said in athletics there are possibilities for both males and females, with tons of opportunity for people interested in pursuing a career in athletics and it’s a great time for females to be in college athletics. She said she wants to give the experience and flexibility to other people, but especially females who want to be in the industry. Women play a huge role in athletics and she attributes Title IX to giving females an equal playing field. She said her story as an athlete and career in athletics would have looked a lot different than another woman in her 60s and added women are in a good spot today.

Lewis-Clark State College Brooke Henze is the athletic director at Lew is-Clark State College. This academic year marks her sixth year serving as the director. Henze has worked in athletics at LCSC since 2006, advancing from being the assistant athletic director to the highest level female in athletics at the college.

Henze is from Lewis ton and is an alumna from LCSC, where she played on the women’s basketball team from 1997-2001. After graduating from LCSC with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication, she studied at Gonzaga Univer sity to earn her master’s of athletic administration. As the department head, Henze is responsible for all activity that happens within the athletics depart ment, including the bud get, working with coaches, advising programs and recruiting student athletes.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2022 21TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL August Frank/Tribune

Lewis-Clark State College athletic director Brooke Henze stands outside Harris Field for a photo. Wisconsin-Madison working her way through the chain of command to senior associate athletic director. She worked her way up to being the high est female in the department as the senior woman admin istrator, at one point with 16 sports reporting to her. Being a woman in athletics brings its own challenges. Gawlik said she never threw the Title IX card unless she had to. In her career she had a lot of great mentors, adding she works well with “the guys” and by not look ing at the work environment as an “us vs. them” situa tion, it helped her career.

Pauline Thiros is the third woman in leadership in athletics. She is the director of athletics at Idaho State University. Thiros was unable to comment for this story because of scheduling issues.

For women who want to pursue a career in athletic administration, Henze said she would tell them to not hold back. She added for women, especially, they have a habit of putting a box around themselves and don’t know what they’re capable of. She also said practice makes a world of difference — if there’s something someone wants to get better at put the work in and practice.

Gawlik has a lot of great opportunities to advocate for all athletes and students and she makes it a point to find adequate funding for men’s and women’s teams. She said she is a big be liever in helping people get better as athletes and at their jobs, men or women. She continues to men tor and offer experience to students and colleagues, to help people grow and move up the ladder. Gawlik’s advice for young women who want to advance in their jobs and athletics is to be confident in what they do. She said confidence comes with a lot of experience, don’t be afraid to ask questions and find a good mentor to bounce ideas off. She also said to be humble — be confident but not overconfident.

Lewis-Clark State College

Estimated scholarship figures for this year show Idaho colleges and universities, particularly those with football programs, aren’t even close to achieving gender equity.

Picone said LCSC began competing in rodeo this year, and he’s not aware of any demand for additional women’s sports.

Picone said the school was found in compliance with Title IX during a review completed last summer. Title IX is the federal mandate that addresses the gender equity issue.

Vickers said LCSC has no women’s sport comparable to men’s baseball, and that’s responsible for the scholarship gender gap. He said Title IX doesn’t require dollar-for-dollar equity, but it does mandate a good-faith effort to narrow the gap. “We’re not saying we’re through. We’re not saying we’re giving up at this point.’’ Bringing women up to a 50% share won’t be possible immediately, however, he said. “We’re about maxed out as far as fundraising goes,’’ Vickers said. Other alternatives would be to cut men’s sports or add a women’s sport, which would likely mean a student fee increase.

Bilyeu Picone

LCSC outlines proposal for sports gender equity Vickers

“There’s no question we’re making a significant and genuine effort,’’ Vickers said. Former Idaho Board of Education member Diane Bilyeu raised the issue of gender equity at her final board meeting in April. She submitted a proposal that would have required the state’s colleges and universities to provide equal dollars for men’s and women’s scholarships within three years. That proposal failed by a 5-2 vote. Bilyeu said her intent was that more money be provided for women’s sports. Board members called that a laudable goal but said the effect of her proposal would be to reduce dollars available for men’s football scholarships. Estimated scholarship figures for this year show Idaho colleges and universities, particularly those with football programs, aren’t even close to achieving gender equity.

The Lewis-Clark State College women’s 1998 rodeo team captured the national team title at the College National Finals Rodeo in Rapid City, S.D. By JIM JACOBS FOR ALL THINGS EQUAL

sinceendollarssharecreasedtheproposalandnewspaper,government,studentthefacilitiestheartistsseries.Vickerssaidthewouldmeanschoolhasin-therelativeofscholarshipforwom-by70percentfall1991.

The college will seek permission to waive in-state fees for 40 women athletes beginning this fall. That would amount to an additional $52,800 in scholarships and increase women’s share of scholarship dollars at LCSC from 32 percent to more than 43 percent. The college isn’t requesting more money to offset the fee waivers. LCSC President Lee Vickers said the school would get by with $28,000 less in its general education fund and about $25,000 less for activities such as

Bilyeu said her intent was that more money be provided for women’s sports. Board members called that a laudable goal but said the effect of her proposal would be to reduce dollars available for men’s football scholarships.

Picone said the athletic department hopes for a quick decision by the state board because the school is in the middle of recruiting basketball players for next year.

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) school will join the new Pacific Northwest Conference next year, in which both men and women will compete with schools such as Central Washington University and Seattle directorAthleticUniversity.GaryPicone said the additional scholarships would enhance the competitiveness of LCSC women in the conference, but that’s not the goal. “It’s what’s right,’’ Picone said. Approval of the fee waivers would allow LCSC to recruit more incoming freshman athletes. The school has traditionally attracted women athletes as junior-college transfers, Picone said. Academically, it’s better to bring them in as freshmen, he said. Students have a better chance to graduate on time if they’re working on the LCSC core curriculum and major requirements from their freshman year.

LCSC women compete in four interscholastic sports: basketball, volleyball, rodeo and tennis. The fee-waiver proposal would allow the college to add 10 athletes to the rosters in those sports.

Plan would bring in 40 more women athletes

This story originally ran in the March 5, 1994, Lewiston Morning Tribune. L ewis-Clark State College would move significantly closer to gender equity in athletic scholarships with a proposal it will submit to the Idaho Board of Education this month.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 202222 TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL

Shurtliff questioned why Allen and McNeeley should be paid more than Univer sity of Idaho football coach John L. Smith, when Smith is the most successful foot ball coach in Idaho. Smith’s state-funded salary is actually just above that proposed for the first year of McNeeley’s contract, at $60,470 annually.

Selland said Allen has many years of coaching experience in the Canadian Football League and at the collegiate level and he felt fortunate to hire him for $69,000 a year.

BSU’s Executive Vice President Larry Selland said Allen, Portland State University’s former foot ball coach, also will be paid

Ed board moves toward sex equity in sports

By MICHAEL R. WICKLINE FOR ALL THINGS EQUAL

Pete Caster/Tribune file Boise State defenders Mikayla Schachtell (16) and Macie Nelson (21) team up to win a header over Idaho’s Caitlin Johnston during the first half of a non conference women’s soccer game in 2019 at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2022 23TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUAL This story originally ran in the Jan. 20, 1993, Lewiston Morning Tribune.

$25,000 more for his radio and television shows. But the board delayed action on a proposed threeyear contract for Idaho State University football coach Brian McNeeley. He would be paid $59,404 in the first year of the proposed contract. Board President M. Karl Shurtliff objected to giving coaches multiyear contracts because he said he fears the board may be forced to buy them out in the future. But Idaho State University Pres ident Richard Bowen said he would leave his job if he asked the board to buy out McNee ley’s contract before it ends.

“We did negotiate what he felt was the lowest pos sible salary to get him,’’ he said. “The market dictates a lot of this and that’s where we found ourselves.’’ Bowen said ISU puts the highest percentage of its athletic program budgets into coaches’ sal aries among its peers. “We are the most gen erous,’’ he said. Shurtliff snapped back, “No, you sell fewer tickets.’’

BOISE — The Idaho Board of Education Tuesday took its first step toward getting the state’s higher education institutions’ athletic pro grams to comply with federal gender equity guidelines. At the request of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Idaho chapter, the board formed a fivemember committee to study compliance. The panel is composed of representatives from the three universities, the Idaho Attorney General’s office and the ACLU. George Patterson, chair man of the legal committee for the ACLU’s Idaho chap ter, said he recognizes gen der equity is an enormously complex issue and the institu tions face fiscal constraints. “(But) this is a ques tion that isn’t going to go away,’’ he said. “It really is the right thing to do. ... We really need to get moving on it and we’d like to help in whatever way we can.’’ In this school year, 658 men and 271 women are participating in athletic programs at Idaho’s universities and college, according to a report to the education board. The largest gap between men and women athletes is at Boise State University, where 231 men and 76 women are participating, the report indicates. In contrast, 217 men and 106 women are competing in athletics at the University of Idaho and 64 men and 36 women are playing sports at Lewis-Clark State College, the report said. Patterson said complying with federal Title IX guidelines is the first goal of the ACLU’s Idaho chapter, followed by reaching gender equity in the athletic programs. In other sports-related action, the board approved a one-year, $69,000 contract for Boise State Universi ty’s new football coach, Ernest (Poky) Allen.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association reported that in 1971-72 there were 294,015 girls involved in high school sports and 3.6 million boys in high school sports. By 2005-06 the num ber of girls in high school sports had increased to 2.9 million; a 904% increase. The number of boys in high school sports rose to 4.2 million; a 15% jump. In his 53 years as a school sports official, Rehder has seen dramatic changes in the way girls’ sports pro grams are administered, including a major upgrade in uniforms, equipment and college scholarships.

FOR ALL THINGS EQUAL

According to the U.S. De partment of Education data for the 2013-14 school year (the most recent available), girls made up 49% of students at public high schools that offer sports and 43% of sports participants at those schools.

TITLE IX: ALL THINGS EQUALFRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 202224

“In the beginning (girls) were getting hand-medowns. They just equipped the girls with what was left over,” Rehder said. “Right after (Title IX) the schools really got with the action and started to individualize girls’ and boys’ games equally and treated them the same. That was a major breakthrough for girls.”

By KATHY HEDBERG

Rehder named other local girl athletes who made an impressive showing of their skills following Title IX, including his own daughter, Lisa, who played basketball for Lewis-Clark State College.

Reflecting on the successes from Title IX

Jim Rehder stands in the Prairie Elementary School gymnasium. Rehder has seen the changes for female athletes since Title IX was passed in the early 1970s.

In 1972 when Title IX be came the law of the land, it was like popping the top off a shaken-up bottle of soda for girls in high school sports. Girls who had been constrained by genderspecific rules of the game were suddenly cut loose to express their athletic talent.

August Frank/Tribune

“Title IX was the best; it was really important,” said Jim Rehder, of Cottonwood, who began officiating at high school basketball games in 1970, and continues to referee basketball at Prairie Junior High. This will be Rehder’s 53rd year as a game official. Back then, Rehder said, the rules for girls’ and boys’ bas ketball were different. Girls played on six-person teams with only two forwards al lowed to travel full court. Play ers had to keep their distance from each other and defensive rules were “soft,” he said. “They used the boys’ bas ketball in the beginning, which was a bigger ball. Girls would later use a smaller ball and the rules became the same as the boys’. That was a big deal. “In ’72 to ’75, girls were showing such great enthu siasm and skills (and when Title IX came in) it was like, ‘OK, let’s have the same rules,’ ” Rehder said. Two high school girl athletes in particular stand out in Rehder’s memory. One was Carrie Reiner Nygaard, of Cottonwood, who graduated from Prairie High School in 1978. She was a dominant player who led her team to two state cham pionships and went on to play for the women’s team at Washington State University. The other was Andrea Lloyd, of Moscow, a 1983 graduate who went on to play for the University of Tex as, was a Parade magazine All-American and ended up in the Women’s National Basketball Association. “Andrea could jump 6 feet high,” Rehder said. “I remember one time I was refereeing in Moscow and in one game (Lloyd) got the rebound in the air and spun in the air and threw (the ball) the full length of the court and hit one of her team mates in stride for a lay-in. “That, I will nev er forget,” he said. “Girls had real im pressive talent. Still, to this day, the skill level of girls is just incredible.”

Longtime basketball official Jim Rehder has seen the changes and growth for girls in high school athletics

Hedberg may be contacted at khedberg@lmtribune.com.

Title IX is a law that pro hibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any education programs or activities that receive federal funds. The law does not require schools to have the same number of activities for boys and girls but regulations require schools to offer equal participation op portunities for girls and boys.