Political Education
The Good is Oft Interred with the Bones: Richard Nixon and Title IX
“The Evil That Men Do Lives After Them; The Good is Oft Interred with their Bones”
Shakespeare
Shortly after taking office as president in 1969, Richard Nixon created a Task Force for Women’s Rights and Responsibilities. The task force’s efforts nearly quadrupled the number of women in federal government positions. In 1972, President Nixon signed the Education Amendments Act of 1972, which included Title IX.
Title IX prohibits federally funded educational institutions from discriminating against students or employees based on sex. When the NCAA was created in 1906 there were no athletic scholarships for women and no championships for women’s sports. By 1972 , 170,000 men were participating in NCAA sports but only 30,000 women. Title IX was designed to enforce equal access and quality. Women’s sports are now required to have the same access to equal locker rooms, medical treatment, training, coaching, practice times, travel and per diem allowances, equipment, practice facilities, tutoring and recruitment. Scholarship money is also shared with women athletes.
“Other than the constitutional right to vote, possibly no other piece of legislation has had a greater effect on women’s lives than Title IX.”
– Nancy Hogshead-Makar, triple Gold Medalist in Swimming, 1982 Los Angeles Olympics
“To me, Title IX allowed so many student-athletes a platform to play a sport we love.”
– Lisa Leslie, three time WNBA MVP and four time Olympic gold medal winner
In history, Richard Nixon will go down as having resigned the presidency in disgrace. His role in securing equal opportunities for women will be interred with his bones.
Sources
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/title-ix-enacted
https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2016/04/president-nixon-and-title-ix/
https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2022/06/50th-anniversary-title-ix/
Thanks and a tip of the hat to The White House – http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/08/images/20080809_d-0931-515h.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4547883 for the image of Lisa Leslie.